Medical Imaging Ministries of the Americas is an organization dedicated to bringing high performance sustainable Ultrasound Diagnostic Imaging to rural and other underserved places in the world.  We do this by using a new model for ultrasound imaging called Volume Sweep Imaging (VSI) by which operators can image key areas of the body in a few minutes WITHOUT THE NEED FOR ANY OTHER MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE OTHER THAT SURFACE ANATOMY OF THE HUMAN BODY.  Because no knowledge of internal ultrasound anatomy or pathology is needed, operators can be trained in a few days rather than months or years as is typically the case with traditional ultrasound.  An area of the body is scanned by "sweeping" through the area capturing images every millimeter to provide a series of images that can be evaluated and interpreted (similar to how a CT or MRI is evaluated by an expert in ultrasound diagnosis located in a typical city or suburban clinic hundred or thousands of miles (km).  MIMAs currently is operating in clinics in the Peruvian Amazon jungle with plans to spread to other underserved areas.

All this is made possible by automatic upload to the internet (via cellular or other network such as starlink) where the interpreting expert accesses the study from a secure server).  The reader creates a structured report of the findings that is sent back to the operator and/or the local clinic or hospital with action recommendations.  The readers are trained and certified physicians or other healthcare providers who have volunteered to interpret diagnostic studies at no charge or minimal charge.
The training is accomplished by sending in a team of experienced trainers to perform the training and testing of new operators, provide the low-cost equipment needed, and provide an initial set of needed supplies such as ultrasound gel.  The protocols and training were developed by Dr Brian Garra, a well-known expert in ultrasound technology and diagnosis beginning in 2007 with refinements and additional body areas added over the years.   The protocols are designed to be robust in terms of errors made during scanning with greater than 90% visualization of key organs in the area being scanned by using known "acoustic windows" in the body for visualization of specific organs.
For rapid deployment, interested participants can be quickly trained and equipped to perform ultrasound examinations to evaluate pregnancies, pelvic and abdominal masses, fluid and free air in the abdomen, pleural effusions and pneumothorax, diffuse pneumonias, thyroid and neck masses/diseases, breast masses, and extremity injuries.  This will allow treating professionals accompanying the response team to have imaging diagnosis capability whether they know how to use ultrasound or not.  The equipment can be left behind with trained local individuals to provide on-going diagnostic ultrasound imaging even after the response team has departed.  Of course, the system can be deployed to areas in need even in the absence of the need for rapid response.

An early version of the system was deployed by Imaging the World in Uganda and Malawi with new sites having been recently established in the Peruvian Amazon jungle by Medical Imaging Ministries of the Americas.

Quality assurance is provided by volunteers in the USA and elsewhere, reviewing images that have been acquired and MIMAs has deployable remote training and monitoring equipment to observe the actual scan process and ultrasound while they are being created to help solve quality issues if needed.

The relatively simple scan process allows the operators to help minister to the psychological and spiritual needs of patients during the scan process providing an extra layer of assistance and support to patients who are very frequently in need of that support.