Echo Machines
ECHO MACHINES

Red Sky Foundation  has funded the cost of purchasing two state of the art ECHO Machines at Sunderland Royal Hospital and James Cook Hospital in Teesside at the cost of over £56,000 each.  They are now in service across the clinical areas and providing much better diagnostic information for the doctors and surgeons to plan the best treatment to over 4000 babies and children across both hospitals.

An echocardiogram, or “ECHO”, is a scan used to look at the heart and nearby blood vessels. It’s a type of ultrasound scan, which means a small probe is used to send out high-frequency sound waves that create echoes when they bounce off different parts of the body.

Babies and children including newly born babies in maternity unit are diagnosed more accurately, locally and within a shorter time frame. Wireless Echo images can be sent very quickly to the regional Centre for quicker diagnosis without the need for parents to travel around the region with poorly babies, thus reducing pressure on main cardiac centres. This reduces waiting times and enhances survival rates of children born with heart conditions, in both the regional centre and at the outlying units. Parents will feel confident that their child has been provided the most efficient care available in their local area. Diagnosis is a stressful period for all parents, we believe that early diagnosis helps relieve stress levels and the need for ongoing psychological support.

We are hugely grateful to our sponsors and supporters who help us raise the funds to make such a positive impact in North East hospitals.