Direct Medical Systems Inc. (DMS) has announced the Plug and Play Ultrasound Probe System (Ppups). If you have an extra $3,700 sitting in your pocket, go crazy. Though the system is not being marketed for such purposes, the timing does seem to fly in the face of recent concerns over the safety of ultrasound that could be purchased for home use.

"Once FDA approval comes in the fourth quarter of this year the possibility for uses of the Ppups are endless, third world countries, ambulances, military, OBGYN, urology, dermatology, you name it,” said Mark Falkowski, president and CEO, Direct Medical Systems. “This ultrasound can go anywhere and for a price anyone can afford,” added Falkowski.

Ppups is a complete ultrasound imaging system built right into a small USB-compatible probe for B-mode imaging weighing in at 7.5 ounces. This technology allows a user to capture images in the probe which then can be sent to a PC for processing, which is really not that different than plugging a digital camera into your computer.

The company stated that image quality increases by eliminating the analog signal noise caused by traveling through a cable to be processed in the system. There are no additional devices required to connect the Ppups to an existing computer. All that must be done is to load the software, plug the USB cable into the USB (2.0) port and start scanning.

The Ppups is offered in 3.5 MHz, 5.0 MHz, 7.5 MHz and 12MHz for the most common ultrasound applications.