Heart, lung and deep vein scans at the bedside. Support from diagnosis through PIV placement.
An integrated imaging solution for critical assessments and guided procedures that never leaves your side.
Central venous catheter placement and critical procedural guidance.
Now with the new Biplane Imaging™ technology, Butterfly iQ3 can support critical care clinicians in central venous access, difficult PIV access, arterial access, thora/paracentesis, percutaneous tracheostomy, and airway management. Ultrasound guidance has been shown to improve success rates, reduce the number of attempts, and decrease the complications associated with CVC insertion1.
Focused cardiac assessment.
Does your patient have systolic heart failure? Is there a pericardial effusion? Are they fluid responsive? With 3 dedicated presets for cardiac imaging, Butterfly iQ3 can give you the confidence to make quick bedside decisions in a large range of patient types. Cardiac activity with POCUS has been shown to be the variable most associated with survival after cardiac arrest2.
Lung evaluation.
Lung ultrasound (LUS) can help clinicians rapidly and accurately identify most of the common causes of dyspnea, such as congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and pneumonia.
Now, with the Auto B-line Counter tool, clinicians can also use artificial intelligence to efficiently and accurately quantify B-lines during their lung assessments, potentially improving efficiency and reliability.
Lung evaluation.
Lung ultrasound (LUS) can help clinicians rapidly and accurately identify most of the common causes of dyspnea. LUS can also help clinicians identify COVID pneumonia severity and can assist in patient management as well as resource utilization in critical care3.
As iQ+ can be placed in a simple sheath, it can help preserve PPE as well as eliminate time-consuming cleaning protocols of larger devices. Butterfly iQ+ can also help limit exposure of additional healthcare practitioners by reducing patient transport.
Deep vein thrombosis surveillance.
For patients who have high coagulation, are sedentary for long periods in a critical state, or are being screened for clot pre-CVC insertion, Butterfly iQ3 offers dedicated presets optimized for assisting the clinician to identify DVT. Developed to display echogenic thrombus within deep vessel lumen, Butterfly can support the clinician’s identification of DVT before it develops into a pulmonary embolism.
Recent studies suggest that the prevalence of DVT on admission to a medical-surgical ICU may be as high as 10%, and that the incidence of DVT developing during the ICU stay (based on systematic screening) ranges from 8% to 40%.3
1. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2766872/
2. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27693280/
3. doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrc.2005.09.003
“Butterfly [ultrasound] is the first where I'm able to have it in my pocket for the entire shift. I can focus on getting to the sick undifferentiated patient, and start to do my evaluation. I don't have time to wait for x-rays and CT scans.”
ED Intensivist and Assistant Professor
Cooper University Healthcare, New Jersey
Clinical evidence.
E Med Clinics of North America
Patients at risk of deterioration and/or death benefit most from the timely, multisystem bedside analysis provided by POCUS. In fact, some applications are the foundation of resuscitation such as the cause of shock in the undifferentiated patient.
Read articleCritical Care
The use of ultrasound has been proposed to reduce the number of complications and to increase the safety and quality of central venous catheter placement.
Read articleGet started with Butterfly.
Learn how to scan the Apical 4-Chamber.
Mastering the 4 basic views of the heart is the first step to performing focused cardiac assessment - assessing size, structure and function at the bedside.
Evaluation for Tamponade
Use Butterfly to look for echocardiographic signs of cardiac tamponade.
Ultrasound in the septic patient.
A basic overview of using ultrasound to understand how to assess different stages of septic shock.
These videos are for informational purposes only, to demonstrate potential uses of the Butterfly probe. They are not a substitute for professional clinician training and experience. Clinicians are solely responsible for patient care and for exercising their independent clinical judgement at all times.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is ultrasound used in critical care?
Ultrasound is used in the ICU to assess cardiac function and output, evaluate fluid responsiveness, diagnose and monitor lung conditions such as pulmonary edema and pneumothorax, guide invasive procedures, and monitor patients in real time. Butterfly iQ3 allows intensivists and critical care nurses to perform bedside imaging continuously without moving ventilated, hemodynamically unstable patients to radiology.
What is POCUS in the ICU?
POCUS in the ICU is real-time, clinician-performed ultrasound at the bedside used to guide diagnosis and management of critically ill patients. ICU applications include lung ultrasound for ventilator management, cardiac ultrasound for shock assessment, IVC evaluation for fluid status, and procedural guidance for central lines, arterial lines, chest tubes, and thoracentesis. Butterfly iQ3 is used in ICUs because it provides individual clinicians with immediate access to imaging without scheduling a shared system.
Why is handheld ultrasound particularly valuable in the ICU?
Critically ill patients often cannot safely be transported for imaging. Handheld ultrasound like Butterfly iQ3 allows intensivists to bring imaging to the patient — at the bedside, in real time, as many times as clinically indicated. With individual devices assigned to providers or units, imaging is always available without scheduling delays. Butterfly's CompassAI integration also ensures that ICU ultrasound exams are documented and billed even in complex, fast-moving care environments.
Can ultrasound guide procedures in the ICU?
Yes. Ultrasound guidance is standard of care for many ICU procedures including central venous catheter placement, arterial line insertion, thoracentesis, paracentesis, and lumbar puncture. Butterfly iQ3 provides real-time imaging guidance that reduces procedural complications and improves first-attempt success rates for vascular access
How does Butterfly support fluid management in critically ill patients?
Butterfly devices are used in the ICU to assess inferior vena cava (IVC) diameter and collapsibility as a surrogate for volume status, and to evaluate cardiac function in response to fluid challenges. This enables dynamic, real-time fluid management decisions at the bedside without requiring echocardiography lab scheduling.
Can Butterfly iQ3 be used for lung ultrasound in ventilated patients?
Yes. Lung ultrasound with Butterfly iQ3 is used in ventilated ICU patients to assess for consolidation, pleural effusion, pneumothorax, and pulmonary edema — and to monitor changes in response to ventilator adjustments or diuresis. Lung ultrasound is one of the most established POCUS applications in critical care and is achievable with the single Butterfly probe.