FUJIFILM Sonosite and the Emergency Medicine Foundation Partner in the Battle Against COVID-19

BOTHELL, Wash., July 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- FUJIFILM Sonosite, Inc., the world leader in point-of-care ultrasound, and the Emergency Medicine Foundation (EMF), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded by the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), today announced its partnership on the EMF COVID-19 Research Grant program. To support this program, FUJIFILM Sonosite is contributing a $90,000 research grant and soon to be released Sonosite PX point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) systems.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected 188 countries, with over 10 million confirmed cases and 500,000 deaths as of July 2020. More research is critically needed to understand the pathophysiology of COVID-19 and how to manage patients for improved outcomes and reduced mortality rates. The goal of the EMF's COVID-19 grant is to conduct research with the participation of emergency medicine physicians, and to provide high-impact, new knowledge to advance emergency patient care, improve response of healthcare EMS systems, and protect emergency medicine healthcare professionals during pandemics. 

"From an early stage in this pandemic, we learned how frontline emergency physicians were using point of care ultrasound to assess this deadly illness. Despite their remarkable progress, we recognized more research was required as unfortunately the pandemic continues to grow," said Diku Mandavia, MD, FACEP, Senior Vice President, Chief Medical Officer of FUJIFILM Sonosite. "We're proud to collaborate with ACEP and EMF in a time when we are still learning more about this disease and how to best care for patients. As a powerful and portable imaging modality that provides critical answers at the bedside, we believe point-of-care ultrasound can be integrated into more COVID-19 care pathways."

"We are grateful to have FUJIFILM Sonosite's support to further investigate the role ultrasound plays in this catastrophic disease," said David Wilcox, MD, FACEP, Chair of the EMF Board of Trustees. "For the industry to truly overcome COVID-19 and prepare for future pandemics, we must more specifically understand how diagnostic imaging innovations may improve the quality of care, as well as patient and staff safety."

The FUJIFILM Sonosite COVID-19 Point-of-Care Ultrasound Acceleration Research Grant is currently open and accepting proposals from interested emergency physicians until August 21, 2020. Grant winners will be announced in September 2020 and recognized at the 2020 ACEP Research Forum. Selected grant winners will be invited to present their research findings at the ACEP21 Scientific Assembly scheduled to take place in October 2021 in Boston, Massachusetts.

For more information about the program and how to apply, visit: https://www.emfoundation.org/apply

About

FUJIFILM Sonosite, Inc. is the innovator and world leader in bedside and point-of-care ultrasound, and an industry leader in ultra- high-frequency micro-ultrasound technology. Headquartered near Seattle, the company is represented by a global distribution network in over 100 countries. Sonosite's portable, compact systems are expanding the use of ultrasound across the clinical spectrum by cost-effectively bringing high-performance ultrasound to the point of patient care. For more information, please visit www.Sonosite.com.

FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, brings cutting edge solutions to a broad range of global industries by leveraging its depth of knowledge and fundamental technologies developed in its relentless pursuit of innovation. Its proprietary core technologies contribute to the various fields including healthcare, graphic systems, highly functional materials, optical devices, digital imaging and document products. These products and services are based on its extensive portfolio of chemical, mechanical, optical, electronic and imaging technologies. For the year ended March 31, 2019, the company had global revenues of $22 billion, at an exchange rate of 111 yen to the dollar. Fujifilm is committed to responsible environmental stewardship and good corporate citizenship. For more information, please visit: www.fujifilmholdings.com.

The Emergency Medicine Foundation (EMF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1972 by visionary leaders of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). EMF supports scientifically rigorous research and education that improves the care of the acutely ill and injured. To date, EMF has awarded more than $17 million in research grants to advance emergency medicine science and health policy. For more information visit http://www.emfoundation.org. Companies or individuals interested in contributing to support emergency medicine research can contact Peggy Brock, EMF Executive Director, at [email protected].

The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) is the national medical society representing emergency medicine. Through continuing education, research, public education and advocacy, ACEP advances emergency care on behalf of its 39,000 emergency physician members, and the more than 150 million Americans they treat on an annual basis. For more information, visit http://www.acep.org and http://www.emergencyphysicians.org.

SOURCE FUJIFILM Sonosite, Inc.