With the rapid development of microelectronics, handheld ultrasound devices emerged and have a widespread use in the field of medicine and healthcare. The handheld ultrasound is a modality of medical ultrasonic device that is portable (i.e., carried by hand), easy to operate and in some cases even combine the scanner with the host system. It normally has the characteristics of light weight, small size and low power consumption. With the wireless imaging transmission technique, remote and intelligent diagnosis is possible for the doctors using handheld ultrasound devices. As soon as the low-cost, highperformance handheld ultrasound device was launched, it attracted clinical attention and received a warm welcome from primary doctors and clinicians, thereby accelerating the development of ultrasonic clinical visualization. In this paper, we will illustrate the status and roles of handheld ultrasound for its clinical settings and applications in the past, current, and future.