This handheld ultrasound machine will help you skip waiting at a lab

Getting an ultrasound done still requires people to get out of the comfort of their homes and lie down at a nearby lab. But an extremely useful gadget made its way at the CES 2019 that will help you do away with the ordeal of lab visits.

Butterfly iQ is a handheld ultrasound machine connected to an iPhone that allows you to take your own ultrasound as your doctor analyzes the imagery in real time over a video chat, Cnet reported.

Butterfly iQ costs USD 2,000 and unlike the bulky traditional ultrasound machines, it carries the technology right in itself, in the shape of a wand, requiring no separate attachments to larger machines for scanning different parts of the body.

Although the technology is FDA approved, the mobile ultrasound machine is cleared for medical-professional use only. Additionally, the company behind the device, Butterfly Network, is improving the software to allow for a real-time analysis from anywhere with the doctor.

The company is also building an AI-based software to help guide an untrained person to take a proper ultrasound, so the file can be sent to a professional for analysis.