One of the more unusual enquiries we receive is for ultrasound equipment for marine mammals, fish and corals. We are not the only company in the world that supplies ultrasound for marine use, but we are the only one staffed by research sonographers; this means we have the expertise (and interest!) to help you to find or create the system you need for your work or research project.

As well as ultrasound equipment itself, we also have an interactive ultrasound image labelling platform that enables us to quickly and efficiently train a neural network (artificial intelligence) to perform interpretations or measurements. This can be useful if only one or two individuals in your team are capable of interpreting the scans, as we can train a neural network to interpret ultrasound scans in the same way you would.

Scanning fish and corals

We have tested numerous ultrasound machines with fish and corals. The following 3 have achieved the most spectacular results:

• ScanX ultrasound machine: this handheld system is ideal for captive fish and corals, and generally smaller operations. Its portability makes it easy to move from tank to tank, but its ultrasound transducer is not fully waterproof and needs to be placed inside a protective bag with some ultrasound gel. This can be home made at a cost of about 20 pence.
• Artemis: the Artemis has a waterproof curvilinear transducer with a wide footprint which is ideal for scanning larger fish. We also achieved great results on a sea hare!
• ScanX Air: this ultrasound machine offers the ultimate in portability, and connects wirelessly to your phone, tablet or laptop. The ScanX Air differs from the more commonly found wireless probes, offering much higher resolution, and two different transducers (convex and linear) in a single probe. We achieved excellent results with both.

Working on a project?

We’ve love to hear about the project you are working on. We have over a decade of experience in sourcing and designing bespoke ultrasound equipment, cost-effectively. Please get in touch!