What is the Butterfly iQ+?
The Butterfly iQ+ is a handheld, single-probe whole-body ultrasound made by Butterfly Network. It uses the company's patented Ultrasound-on-Chip semiconductor instead of traditional crystals, connects to a smartphone, and is FDA-cleared for 13 clinical uses including cardiac, lung, abdominal, vascular, and obstetric imaging.
Key facts
- Form factor
- biometric
- Maturity
- commercial
- Verified deployments
- 2
- Maker
- Butterfly Network
What it is
The Butterfly iQ+ is a handheld ultrasound device made by Butterfly Network, a US company in Burlington, Massachusetts, founded in 2011. Unlike a hospital ultrasound cart, it is a single probe that plugs into a smartphone or tablet.
What makes it different
Its defining feature is the Ultrasound-on-Chip: Butterfly replaced the traditional piezoelectric crystals inside an ultrasound probe with a semiconductor chip. That is what lets one small probe cover the whole body, from cardiac to abdominal to lung scans, where older machines often needed several probes.
Is it a robot?
Not in the walking-and-driving sense. On the registry it sits in the biometric category: it is an AI-assisted medical imaging device, not an autonomous machine. The intelligence is in the imaging and the guidance software, not in independent movement. It is FDA-cleared for 13 clinical applications and is in real-world commercial use; DEPLOY records verified deployments in South Africa and Kenya, where portable ultrasound extends care beyond hospital settings.
For pricing, see How much does the Butterfly iQ+ cost?.
Frequently asked
Who makes the Butterfly iQ+?
Butterfly Network, a US medical-imaging company based in Burlington, Massachusetts, founded in 2011.
What is the Butterfly iQ+ used for?
Whole-body point-of-care ultrasound. It is FDA-cleared for 13 clinical applications including cardiac, lung, abdominal, vascular, and obstetric imaging.
Is the Butterfly iQ+ a robot?
Not in the conventional sense. It is a handheld, AI-assisted ultrasound probe that connects to a smartphone, categorized on the registry as a biometric device rather than an autonomous robot.
Where it is deployed
2 verified deployments on the registry for the Butterfly iQ+. Click any marker to open its primary-source record.
Explore the deployment map
See where these robots are verified operating, by place and type.
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