Butterfly’s mission is to make medical imaging more accessible, affordable, and intuitive. In the US, ultrasound is becoming a pillar of the physical examination. As for abroad, two thirds of the world has no access to even basic medical imaging. Handheld, simple-to-use ultrasound at a $2000 price point can help.

What makes Butterfly unique is that the piezoelectric crystals typically used in ultrasound have been replaced by custom-designed semiconductor chips, controlled entirely in software. Rather than swapping ultrasound probes to scan different parts of the body, a clinician scans with a single iQ probe and simply adjusts the scanning preset on their iPhone.

iQ is a medical device with the paradigms that make an iPhone app, an iPhone app. Connect your iQ and immediately start scanning. Swipe on the screen to adjust your image. Easily save to cloud storage and share with colleagues.

I was responsible for Butterfly’s iPhone and iPad software, which programs the iQ device, reconstructs images from ultrasound data, uploads captured images and videos to Butterfly secure cloud storage, and enables sharing and commenting for groups of physicians.

I managed the iQ software product from several months before launch to approximately one year after launch. I shipped:

• Core imaging features: the first Butterfly iQ app for iPhone and then for iPad; onboarding education revealed as the user learns the iQ scanning workflow; improved capture and annotation tools; and advanced imaging modes.
• Sales and marketing initiatives: a referral program that generated hundreds of thousands in revenue without a dime of incentives; safe deidentified image sharing; and the foundation for SaaS subscription management.
• Underlying infrastructure: speedy uploads, hardware-software compatibility, automatic diagnostic health checks, and lots and lots of usability refinements to get the iQ experience just right.

We won an Apple Design Award ("the Oscars of app development"), the SXSW Best of Show and Best in Health, Med, and Biotech awards, and other awards during my tenure.

Butterfly iQ was featured on the cover of the International New York Times, on the cover of the Science Times, and elsewhere.

I was also responsible for our software testing and release process along with my engineering partners, as we maintained a high-velocity release cadence, rare in medical devices.

Ultrasound is a game of millimeters. With Tele-Guidance, a novice scanner wouldn't need careful training to understand expert ultrasound terminology for maneuvering the probe. Instead, Tele-Guidance tracks the iQ probe’s position in the novice scanner’s iPhone camera feed. The remote expert can command precise adjustments in augmented reality, leading the novice scanner to the right image and insight.

Within my first 10 weeks, I built a fully functional iOS and web prototype to showcase at a national ultrasound trade show. Then I progressively refined the product through methodical user testing.

I worked as a solo engineer and product manager, with the help of a part-time product manager, pointers from several ultrasound software designers and engineers across the company, and guidance from the head of product and the chief medical officer.

Notable technologies used: Python, Typescript, React, WebRTC, Swift, SceneKit, Three.js, ArUco.

I ran the process to hire and onboard a tech lead to take over my day-to-day responsibilities, before I moved on to the core Butterfly iQ product.