Jennifer Matthews: His family doctor could hear John Cork's heart, but couldn't see it. So John traveled hundreds of miles - to this place - where cardiologists use an echocardiography machine to see the heart. The machine weighs about three hundred pounds and costs three hundred thousand dollars.
Dr. John Alexander: The Optigo is, was made possible by sort of the miniaturization of technology and it has, pretty much, everything that's in this machine, is in this machine, with a lot fewer bells and whistles.
Jennifer Matthews: The Optigo is a handheld echocardiography machine. Instead of taking the patients to the machine, doctors like Duke's John Alexander take the machine to the patient.
Dr. John Alexander: The other advantage of this machine is that it's cheap compared to this machine. This retail for about $11,000 and you can actually order one over the web; they'll ship it to your house.
Jennifer Matthews: An exam from a family doctor using this device is not as thorough as one from a cardiologist using the larger version but...
John Alexander: It raises the possibility of getting echo out there to people who are currently dependent on stethoscopes.
Jennifer Matthews: With the new device - doctors can detect heart problems better than with a stethoscope.
John Cork: I guess it just means it's a better chance for me to survive, you know, if they catch it, catch it earlier that way.
Jennifer Matthews: High stakes that may put high-tech ahead of this familiar old symbol of medicine. This is Jennifer Matthews reporting.
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