The Butterfly Story

In this installment of the BackTable Innovation Series, Dr. John Martin, Chief Medical Officer of Butterfly Network, and our host Dr. Bryan Hartley discuss Dr. Martin’s work in clinical software development, nonprofit efforts, and the revolutionary Ultrasound-on-Chip technology.

Dr. Martin traces his entrepreneurial journey back to his vascular surgery fellowship years, when he developed software programs to automate risk stratification and track patient outcomes. He emphasizes that it is important to take risks and “bet on yourself” when you know that your product can bring benefits to patients and physicians.

Dr. Martin also advises listeners to be open to partnerships with larger companies who can bring their ideas to fruition. This collaborative mindset brought him into the nonprofit world, where he worked with industry and government leaders to found a free cardiovascular screening initiative called Dare to CARE.

In his current role at Butterfly Network, Dr. Martin aims to make bedside ultrasound care affordable and accessible to all patients across the globe. He highlights the fact that the portable Butterfly probe has been successfully employed in contexts such as medical education, the COVID response, and his own cancer diagnosis. Overall, Dr. Martin believes that ultrasound access will benefit all medical specialties and help physicians make more efficient and informed clinical decisions.