iPhone can be a medical boon for doctors
{image-iphone emr97897_23032008.jpg news.oneindia.in}Washington, March 23: Version 2.0 of the popular iPhone's firmware, which is due to be launched in June this year, could turn the device into an indispensable medical tool in hospitals. Doctors are quite optimistic about the new version of the mobile phone as it could serve as an electronic alternative for the old-fashioned clipboard and X-ray light box.
According
to
Adam
Flanders,
director
of
informatics
at
Thomas
Jefferson
University
and
an
expert
in
medical
imaging,
"If
you
could
use
the
gesture-based
way
of
manipulating
images
on
the
iPhone
and
actually
manipulate
a
stack
of
X-rays
or
CT
scans,
that
would
be
a
huge
selling
point."
To
date,
such
a
feature
has
remained
an
impossible
dream
due
to
most
smart
phones'
inability
to
handle
the
sophisticated
compression
techniques
used
on
large
medical
images.
Also,
most
phones
lack
the
requisite
memory
and
image-processing
capabilities.
But
the
iPhone's
reasonably
powerful
Samsung
ARM
processor,
8
GB
or
16
GB
of
flash
memory
and
intuitive,
visual
interface
seem
well
suited
to
medical
imagery.
Hospitals
are
also
wary
of
beaming
medical
images
all
over
the
place
via
WiFi
because
of
security
concerns.
But,
the
iPhone's
new
business-friendly
security
features
may
ease
privacy
fears,
according
to
physicians,
and
could
even
turn
the
device
into
an
indispensable
medical
tool
if
hospitals
approve
the
device.
Earlier this month, Apple released a software development kit (SDK) for programmers to create native iPhone applications. The Apple team also announced a new partnership with Epocrates, the developer of a massive drug-interaction database for mobile devices. The company said it is now working directly with Apple on a new iPhone-native version. When released, it will give doctors the ability to view drug information regardless of their location or the availability of a WiFi. Physicians, particularly radiologists, are also excited about the prospect of accessing medical images directly on their iPhones.
According to Flanders, who regularly looks for ways to apply new imaging techniques to the radiology field, he's already seen a number of "neat tricks" with compression in recent years that can deliver hundreds of images on a handheld device, with a high resolution as well as the ability to manipulate those images. "Such applications might actually work better through a browser-based interface," he said.
"The real beauty of the iPhone is that it offers a richer 3-D experience and more memory," said Michelle Snyder, vice president of marketing and subscription services at Epocrates.
ANI