Ultrasound Imaging: A Silent Hero in COVID-19 and Lung Diagnostics

In the wake of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the world has been engaged in a protracted battle against a deadly infectious disease. As of October 2020, the COVID-19 virus has struck over 37 million people globally and has taken over 1 million lives. Since the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak, ultrasound imaging has played a major role in facilitating primary diagnosis and in managing the comorbidities of COVID-19 patients. As compared to other medical imaging tools, ultrasound is distinguished in its versatility, portability, and cost-effectiveness. Accordingly, ultrasound has been widely deployed as a point-of-care modality in emergency medicine and in critical care for diagnosing the respiratory health of COVID-19 patients. In addition to its use in COVID-19 diagnostics, ultrasound imaging has gained significant interest in recent years in other areas of lung diagnostics. Nowadays, lung ultrasound researchers are actively devising new algorithms, techniques, and hardware t...