Getting started
- Install Wavelength from the App Store or Google Play, or open it in your browser: see Wavelength app.
- Create your account with your name, email and a password, and confirm your email address from the message we send.
- Choose your pathways, for example RCEM, FAMUS or FUSIC. Progress then shows your scans against each pathway's targets.
Log a scan
- Tap the round + Log button in the middle of the bottom bar.
- Choose the application and check the date.
- Record what you found, your image quality and your interpretation. Add the confirmation and the impact on management if you know them.
- Choose the Level of supervision and, if you like, your supervisor.
- Add a reflection if you want it to count as a reflective note.
- Tap Save scan.
Log on the day of the scan. If Wavelength closes before you save, Home shows Kept on this phone: tap Review to carry on where you left off. Nothing is added to your logbook until you save it.
Photos and clips
In a scan, under Images and clips, tap Take photo, Choose or Clip (up to 10 seconds, with sound removed). The editor then has three modes:
- Adjust: crop, trim, rotate and flip.
- Redact: cover identifiers with a solid block. Blurring is not offered, because it can leave text readable.
- Annotate: labels, your own text, arrows, boxes, circles, dots and pictograms. Size and Rotation change the selected one; Straight is in the middle of Rotation.
Before you save, confirm that you removed or covered every patient identifier (in every frame of a clip). Photos and clips taken with the camera from Wavelength go straight into the app's own storage, not your phone's gallery.
What syncs, and what stays on your phone
- Your written logbook entries sync to your Wavelength account, so they appear on every phone, tablet or browser where you log in.
- Photos and clips never leave your phone. They are not uploaded to Wavelength, so they do not appear on another device. The only exception is a sign-off request you choose to send with images: they are encrypted on your phone, only your supervisor can open them, and they are deleted when your supervisor signs, you cancel, or after 14 days.
- The sync label at the top of the app shows this device's status. Tap it for details and Retry sync. Offline, everything keeps working and syncs when you are back online.
Back up, restore and move to a new phone
Because photos and clips stay on your phone, a backup is their only copy anywhere else.
- Tap Me, then Back up and restore.
- Choose a passphrase, type it twice and tick the box. Wavelength cannot recover a forgotten passphrase.
- Tap Create encrypted backup, then Share or save, and keep the file somewhere safe: Files or iCloud Drive on iPhone, Google Drive or OneDrive on Android, or your computer.
On a new phone, install Wavelength and log in: your written entries come back by themselves. Then open Me, Back up and restore, tap Choose backup file, enter the passphrase and tap Restore. Only what is missing is added, so nothing is duplicated. This works between Android and iPhone in either direction: move the file by email, cloud storage, AirDrop or Quick Share.
Supervisor sign-off
- Tap Logbook, then Sign-off at the top.
- Select the scans and choose how your supervisor signs: In person on your phone, or with a link you send them.
- Your supervisor confirms each scan or queries it, and signs by hand or types their name.
Each sign-off gets a code that anyone can check at thewavelength.co.uk/verify. Editing a signed scan voids its sign-off. You can mark a scan as not needing sign-off.
Assessments
In Progress, tap Request assessment on a module, or open a saved scan and tap Use for an assessment. Your assessor completes it with you In person on your phone, or from a secure link on any device (it works for 14 days). Formative assessments guide your learning; summative, DOPS and final assessments count towards your targets when your assessor judges you competent. Each one has a code anyone can verify.
Export your logbook
Tap Me, then Export your logbook, and choose PDF, Excel or CSV for your portfolio or ARCP. You can add a verified summary: a snapshot of your progress with a code and QR code that assessors can check. You can withdraw a summary at any time.
Lock the app
Tap Me, then the gear icon (Settings) at the top. Under Security, tick Lock the app with fingerprint or face. Wavelength then asks for your fingerprint, face or phone passcode when it opens and after it has been in the background for a while.
Your account, devices and languages
- Free. The logbook costs nothing, on iPhone, Android and in the browser at thewavelength.co.uk/app. Use the same account on as many devices as you like.
- Languages. The app is in nine languages: tap Me, then the gear icon (Settings) at the top, and choose the App language. Exports and certificates stay in English so any assessor can read them.
- Lost or changed phone. In Me, Settings, Log out other devices signs out every other phone, tablet and browser. Your written entries stay safe in your account; photos and clips come back only from a backup.
- Leaving. Export first, then Me, Settings, Delete my account. This deletes your logbook, sign-offs, assessments, supervisor links and verified summaries.
Questions: curricula and targets
Which curricula and frameworks does the logbook follow?
Choose one or more pathways: the RCEM PoCUS curriculum (2021, Appendix 3), the FAMUS module packs of the Society for Acute Medicine, the FUSIC training packs of the Intensive Care Society, the EUSEM Core Compendium (core and advanced), ACEM's credentialing recommendations, the CPoCUS Acute Care CORE track, the ACEP Ultrasound Guidelines, or General with your own targets. Each pathway's targets come from that body's published documents, and the app names the document and version it used. Wavelength is independent: it is not run or endorsed by any of these bodies, and curricula change, so check requirements with your supervisor and the accrediting body.
How does the app know what I still need to do?
For each module it tracks what your pathway asks for: the total number of scans, how many were supervised, reflective notes, the assessment that completes the module (a DOPS judged competent for RCEM, the assessment of completion of training for FAMUS, the triggered assessment for FUSIC) and any time rules, such as FAMUS's minimum training time from your first supervised scan or FUSIC's 12-month logbook window. Progress shows each module as a ring that moves from red to amber to green, with what is left. For example, RCEM AAA shows its indicative minimum of 25 scans, 5 reflective notes and a DOPS.
Does it check the case mix, not just the numbers?
Yes, where a pathway sets rules. FAMUS Thoracic, for example, counts scans showing consolidation, increased lung water and pleural effusion, and FUSIC limits scans on healthy volunteers to 10%. The app reads these from what you record, so fill in the findings and the setting for every scan.
Can one scan count towards more than one pathway?
Yes. Wavelength applies one scan to every pathway you follow when it meets that pathway's criteria, so you never log the same scan twice. Each organisation, supervisor or local credentialing process still decides what it accepts.
What do the supervision levels mean?
Directly supervised: a supervisor or mentor watched you scan. Independent, reviewed by mentor: you scanned alone and a mentor reviewed your images later. Independent: your own scan, not reviewed. Each pathway counts them by its own rules (FUSIC, for instance, no longer counts course scans as supervised). Choose the level that is true: a sign-off confirms it.
Can I change my targets?
In Progress, tap Targets. The international frameworks and General are starting points: adjust them to your country, hospital or department, and remove modules you do not use. For the UK pathways, keep the published targets unless your supervisor or accrediting body tells you otherwise.
Does reaching my targets mean I am signed off or accredited?
No. Logging a scan, meeting a target in the app or receiving a sign-off does not by itself confer competence or accreditation. RCEM sign-off is by DOPS and your department's entrustment decision; FAMUS and FUSIC end with their own final assessment and paperwork, which you still complete. Wavelength keeps the evidence organised and shows how close you are.
Questions: sign-off, evidence and ARCP
Will RCEM, SAM or the Intensive Care Society accept it?
RCEM accepts any logbook platform that captures its minimum dataset and meets data protection rules, although its preferred platform is the RCEM e-portfolio. FAMUS and FUSIC have their own report sheets, reporting forms and final paperwork, which you still complete. Your supervisor and the accrediting body decide what they accept.
Does it replace my e-portfolio?
No. It organises your scans, sign-offs and assessments and builds a file for your portfolio. When you export, choose where it is going (the RCEM e-portfolio on risr/advance, the JRCPTB ePortfolio, FAMUS, FUSIC, appraisal or another portfolio) and the app shows the steps. It is not yet connected directly to any of these systems, so you attach the export to your portfolio entry. For RCEM, ask your supervisor to complete the DOPS in your e-portfolio too.
How do I show my logbook at ARCP or to an assessor?
Tap Me, then Export your logbook: a PDF, Excel or CSV file of your scans, sign-offs, assessments and reflections. Add a verified summary if you want the panel to be able to check your figures online.
What is a QR-verified summary?
When you export, Wavelength can work out your progress against each pathway from your synced logbook and store a snapshot with a code and QR code. Your supervisor, ARCP panel or accrediting body scans it and sees the same figures and sign-offs online. It shows counts and dates only, never findings or images, and you can withdraw it at any time.
How does anyone know a sign-off is genuine?
Every sign-off and assessment has a code. Anyone can enter it at thewavelength.co.uk/verify and see the learner, the supervisor's name and role, the date and the scan types and dates, never findings or images. It also says whether the signer was a Wavelength Verified Supervisor at the time, a Wavelength account holder not approved at the time, or self-declared. Editing a signed scan voids its sign-off.
My supervisor does not use Wavelength. Can they still sign?
Yes. They sign In person on your phone, or open a link you send them on any device; no account is needed. They sign by hand or type their name, and the record shows how they described themselves. Anyone with the link can sign, so send it only to your supervisor.
What happens if my supervisor queries a scan?
The scan shows as queried, with their comment. Check or correct it, then ask for sign-off again.
Questions: supervisors
What is a Wavelength Verified Supervisor?
A supervisor whose professional registration Wavelength has checked by hand against the regulator's public register, and approved for the areas they supervise. Approval lasts up to 12 months. Their sign-offs and assessments show that they were verified when they signed, which makes your evidence easier to trust.
How do I link my supervisor?
In Me, under Supervision, tap Your supervisors: find a Wavelength Verified Supervisor or invite your own. A linked supervisor sees your progress and your written scan records in their own Wavelength app, never your images, and you can send sign-off and assessment requests straight to their dashboard. Remove a supervisor at any time.
I supervise trainees. Can I use Wavelength?
Yes, free. In Me, under Supervision, tap Learners you supervise, then Become a Wavelength supervisor to apply for verification. Your dashboard lists your trainees' requests; you sign off in person or by link and record structured assessments.
Questions: patient data and privacy
Can I photograph scans?
Only ultrasound images with every patient identifier removed, and only where your employer's policy allows it. Some employers do not allow photographs of screens: then log the scan without a photo. Never type names, dates of birth, hospital or NHS numbers or any other identifier into the logbook. The editor's Redact covers text, and the app warns you if something looks like an identifier, but the check is yours.
Who can see my logbook?
You. Supervisors you link see your progress and written entries, never your photos or clips. Someone with a sign-off, assessment or summary code sees only what that code shows. Wavelength never sees your photos.
Where is my data kept?
Your account and written entries are stored with our processors in the UK and the European Economic Area where we can. Photos and clips stay on your phone and in backup files you keep. The privacy notice has the details.
Does it work without signal?
Yes. Log and edit scans offline; Wavelength syncs your entries when the phone is back online. A guide opened offline says it is the copy from your last connection.
Still stuck?
Email hello@thewavelength.co.uk. In the app, Me, then About Wavelength, then Contact support adds your app version for us. See also the logbook terms of use, the privacy notice and the ultrasound logbook guide on what to record.