Manoj - Unless the department is desperate for 3D and 4D whatever 4D is!!!! do not let them waste their money. For one thing, there will be a lot more development and inovations coming up in that direction in the future that will make the earlier designs look very basic probably. Actually the advantages of 3D for radiology are not as great as say the area of Obstetrics. As for the modes and jargon you mention, I have to say that it is all new hype to make the customer feel they are getting something really great that sometimes their rivals have not got yet. These things will generally only be frills! (compound will probably only be concerned with 3D and as for real-time, all the scanning is done in real-time - a good example of making the customer think he has got something extra! Anything essential that needs to be on-board will be there now whatever top-line machine you buy. I do not know how many machines you are wanting to purchase, but you may be better off suggesting they buy one or two of the best and use the work-horses for the rest. Any imaging anatomical queries the sonographers will have as far as what they are seeing is concerned can be dealt with by transfering the patient easily to the top machines for verification. The reality is that for much of the work the sonographers will do on a daily basis, the facilities offered and paid for in these expensive machines, are not used much and therefore the money spent on good work-horses such as the 500 is probably money better spent. I will check out the last Ultrasound ECRI to see if they have anything to say. - Nick
