Prenatal ultrasound is an established standard in antenatal care to assess fetal health and to confirm the expected date of delivery. Offering excellent image quality, high-frequency probes and ease of use, Canon Medical's Aplio i700 has been welcomed by obstetric centers around the world. VISIONS spoke with Joan Jorink and Deborah Maks, Senior Obstetric Sonographers at Verloskundigen (Midwives) Heemskerk, in the Netherlands, who use the system on a daily basis.

Time for a change for the 'Verloskundigen Heemskerk'. Before we focus on the Verloskundigen Heemskerk and the brand new Aplio i700, we first have a look at the organizational structure. It is a collaboration between three midwiferies, Beverwijk, Castricum and Heemskerk.

It is a high-quality ultrasound center with an enthusiastic and professional team comprising of five sonographers and four assistants. A strong women team. The practice performs approximately 4,000 ultrasound scans per year.

Optimizing the experience of pregnancy
Today's pregnant women highly value the experience of pregnancy and there is an increasing demand for more convenience in antenatal programs. Most want their care to be close by and preferably in one place.

Verloskundigen Heemskerk has, therefore, recently started offering both obstetric care and ultrasound scans at one location to reduce the burden on the pregnant woman and her partner.

The preference of Verloskundigen Heemskerk for the Aplio i700 was not only based on the outstanding specifications of the system that guarantee great image quality, sharp visualizations of microvascular blood flow at low speed thanks to Superb Microvascular Imaging (SMI), as well as ease of operation, but also on the advice and support during the entire purchasing process that was provided by Canon Medical.

Team support
An entire team from Canon Medical is involved in the purchase of equipment at a customer site.

Each customer has a regular contact person in Canon Medical’s Sales Department, who is familiar with the customer's history, knows exactly what they used before, and what their needs are for now and for the future. In the case of Verloskundigen Heemskerk, Paul Kassenaar, Regional Sales Manager at Canon Medical Systems Netherlands provided initial assessment and advice in the Ultrasound upgrade process. After tailor-made system demonstrations, development of a more detailed proposal based on the wishes of the user and the actual purchase of the equipment, the Application Specialist comes into the picture along with prompt assistance by the Service Engineers for installation and training.

For Verloskundigen Heemskerk, the Application Specialist was Fred Bijvoet, who smoothly transferred the settings from their Xario 200s to the Aplio i700s.

“Fred showed us the many possibilities of the system in just over an hour,” said Joan Jorink. “The first week after installation, he was with us all day at the practice and together we evaluated the ultrasounds and the procedures, reviewed best practices and were able to ask questions.”

“From our experience with our previous Canon Medical devices, we know that the Service Engineers are ‘cut from the same cloth’” she added.

“If we have any questions, all we have to do is call. If they don't have the answer ready immediately, which doesn't happen often, you will be called back with the solution as soon as possible. You can tell from everything that there is a well-oiled team here that delivers an optimal service to their customers.”

Much admired
Even though ultrasound machines are fairly standard devices that many people often see up close, the Aplio i700 WHC has turned out to be an exceptional addition at the Verloskundigen Heemskerk.

“Without exaggerating, I don't think we've ever seen so many admiring glances as those that we get in response to the Aplio i700s WHC", said Deborah Maks. “A visiting doctor from a nearby academic center, who is probably used to many things in terms of equipment in her department, couldn't get over how beautiful the device and the image quality were. And during a live demo with the Aplio i700 WHC at the Heart Center of the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) in the Netherlands, all those who attended, including seasoned professionals, were still very surprised by the high-quality image quality. However, the best example of the superior quality of the Aplio i700, in my opinion, is the fact that we hear from several clients that the image quality of our ultrasounds is so high that their pregnant friends are jealous of the pictures they show.”

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