LA JOLLA, Calif. -- Local doctors are using a brand-new, cutting-edge tool to see inside the human body, and they said the new Vscan by General Electric is changing medicine as we know it.

Doctors at Scripps Health in La Jolla just started using Vscan technology, which is essentially an ultrasound device but the size of a cell phone. It's being called the stethoscope of the 21st century.

"The results have been really extraordinary. The Vscan device hasn't missed anything that's important," said La Jolla-based cardiologist Dr. Eric Topol.

For the first time, the Vscan is offering doctors a pocket-size alternative to the conventional, bulky ultrasound machines, and is supposedly just as powerful.

"It's like a new dimension, a whole new dimension in medicine," said Topol.

A large part of the medical community feels the Vscan could improve how medicine is practiced today. The technology would be highly useful in situations like major disasters, like the one seen in Haiti to emergency rooms, and the battlefields in the Middle East.

"You could do a lot of echoes in 1 or 2 minutes from one person to the next as you go around the hospital," said Topol.

Topol told 10News the device won't replace the current technology that's been used for years due to their extreme precision, but will help cut down on long and sometimes unnecessary ultrasounds.

Topol said almost 200 hundred years ago the stethoscope was state-of-the-art, but sound was needed to make it come alive. Now, physicians can actually see pictures of what's going on directly, which makes a big difference.

GE's Vscan sells for just under $8,000 a unit, compared to $20,000 to $300,000 for a conventional ultrasound machine.