Point-of-care (POC) ultrasound is helping to improve the quality of life for metastatic breast cancer patients in the West Midlands, thanks to the fundraising efforts of Breast Friends Solihull and the University Hospitals Birmingham Charity. A Fujifilm SonoSite SII ultrasound system funded through donations is enabling chemotherapy patients to be fitted with portacaths instead of traditional peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC lines). "PICC lines provide an effective route for the delivery of chemotherapy drugs, but can be quite restrictive on a patient's lifestyle; they require weekly appointments to flush the lines and they prevent patients from swimming, for example," says Mike Hammond, CEO of University Hospitals Birmingham Charity. "We wanted to offer our patients a better solution—subcutaneous portacath lines—that eliminate these issues.