We’ve heard a lot about the potential of the iPhone and iPad in the medical field, but we haven’t really seen any concrete examples. Sure, they exist, but outside of app developers and software engineers, we haven’t really seen how mobile computing devices are being used in actual real life medical situations.
My gut feeling is that doctors the world over are still evaluating the potential, but are a little skittish at relying on them in life and death situations. Thank goodness. I’d personally be a little skeptical if my family doctor pulled out an iPhone that was attached to a stethoscope, and I’m a geek who knows the potential it could have.
I don’t know anything about the industry, so take everything I say with a grain of salt, but if an iPhone and a medical application could save a life, I’m all for it. But, I do some degree of research needs to happen before they’re adopted cart blanche. We don’t know the rigours of getting a medical device approved for use in an ER, but I hope it’s a lengthy process.
Peter Bentley, a researcher at University College in London, thinks that a smartphone is capable of saving lives and improving health care. He’d know better than I, and given that iStethoscope has sold over three million copies on the App Store, it seems like patients are just as curious about how an iPhone app could make its way into medical offices around the world.
The application, which costs $0.99, would obviously be a cheap alternative to a heart monitoring device. Bentley also suggests that it takes years for a doctor to accurately use a stethoscope, so by implication it might take a while before you can get a clear and accurate response from your iPhone.
Article Via Cult of Mac
Photo Credit: shannon_louie
