The POCUS Manifesto: Expanding the Limits of the Physical Exam with Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS)

This 'why POCUS' manifesto is an absolute must-read for anyone who uses a stethoscope.

“... In this manifesto, Dr. Istrail makes a solid case for why this technology should reboot the traditional heart and lung physical exam." - Eric Topol MD, author Deep Medicine

‘Why do we continue to guess what diseases reside within the chest when we can look inside and know for sure?’ asks internal medicine physician Dr. Larry Istrail in this poignant and persuasive manifesto.

More than two centuries have passed since the 1816 inception of the stethoscope. During this time our medical care has advanced exponentially, while our physical exam has remained largely unchanged. That is until point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) was brought to the patient’s bedside, enabling a clinician to digitally peel back the skin and observe the ecosystem of internal organs functioning in real-time. Through the lens of our physical exam origins, The POCUS Manifesto paints an inspiring landscape for the future of our physical exam and how POCUS plays a vital role in saving our patients from unnecessary complications, near-misses, and excess testing.

The POCUS Manifesto includes:

• Interviews with POCUS pioneers including Dr. Daniel Lichtenstein, the father of whole-body ultrasound, and Dr. Harvey Feigenbaum who discovered and developed modern echocardiography
• Insight from many modern-day POCUS experts including Dr. Renee Dversdal, Dr. Chris Fox, Dr. Nilam Soni, and many others
• A crash course in the history of the physical exam highlighting the work of Laennec, Auenbrugger, Hope, and many others
• A deep dive into lung ultrasound, how it was discovered, and what evidence exists to support its use
• A review of the literature on the accuracy of lung and heart auscultation
• An exploration of the evidence supporting the use of POCUS for diagnosing cardiopulmonary disease
• New modern-day techniques for evaluating the jugular venous pressure, tamponade, and many other cardiopulmonary diseases

Dr. Larry Istrail is a writer, entrepreneur, and hospitalist physician. He has been covered by NPR and the Washington Post for various medical startups he has founded and is certified in point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) by the Society of Hospital Medicine and the American College of CHEST Physicians.