3 Medical Devices of the Future for iOS
by Katie Matlack
There’s a lot of interest in the impact medical peripherals on iOS mobile platforms can have. Used properly, properly designed apps could help catch diseases earlier and make lives of patients easier. As the blogger covering health IT and medical software for Software Advice, I decided to see what it would take to design three apps myself.
Disease Risk Calculator
Since proteins found in blood can be used as biomarkers to diagnose diseases from type 2 diabetes, to cancer, to HIV. Using tests that detect specific biomarkers of diseases long before clinical symptoms arise can lead to earlier treatment, saving lives.
A user interface, or UI, that indicated to a patient how his score on specific biomarkers had changed over time could help him visualize progress and compare himself to his peers.
Spirometer
Studies have found that measuring breathing difficulty before and after taking medicines for emphysema or chronic bronchitis can help people minimize shortness of breath. Often even after a patient has taken a medicine that does increase airflow to the lungs, their shortness of breath continues. But if a patient sees the measurement of her inspiratory flow–her in-breath–before she takes a medicine, the likelihood she’ll actually start breathing easier after she takes the medicine will be increased.
Spirometers in patient hands today are cheap, simple devices, so a spirometer attached to a sophisticated app that could record breathing performance over time would be extremely useful for both patients and doctors.
Electrocardiogram
Interpreting the electrical activity of the heart over time is useful. It can tell you the rate and regularity of your heartbeats, as well as the size and position of your heart chambers. The presence of heart damage, as well as the impact of drugs or heart rate regulation devices such as pacemakers, can also be detected from an ECG.
If used by caregivers this device can help automate recognition of possible problems, rather than relying solely on the human eye to detect potential irregularities. In addition, doctors could take this device to the field.
Katie Matlack is the Medical Software Analyst at Software Advice, where she writes about health IT including web based home health software. You can view the full article this story is based on on the Software Advice blog.
There’s a lot of interest in the impact medical peripherals on iOS mobile platforms can have. Used properly, properly designed apps could help catch diseases earlier and make lives of patients easier. As the blogger covering health IT and medical software for Software Advice, I decided to see what it would take to design three apps myself.
Disease Risk CalculatorSince proteins found in blood can be used as biomarkers to diagnose diseases from type 2 diabetes, to cancer, to HIV. Using tests that detect specific biomarkers of diseases long before clinical symptoms arise can lead to earlier treatment, saving lives.
A user interface, or UI, that indicated to a patient how his score on specific biomarkers had changed over time could help him visualize progress and compare himself to his peers.
Spirometer
Studies have found that measuring breathing difficulty before and after taking medicines for emphysema or chronic bronchitis can help people minimize shortness of breath. Often even after a patient has taken a medicine that does increase airflow to the lungs, their shortness of breath continues. But if a patient sees the measurement of her inspiratory flow–her in-breath–before she takes a medicine, the likelihood she’ll actually start breathing easier after she takes the medicine will be increased.
Spirometers in patient hands today are cheap, simple devices, so a spirometer attached to a sophisticated app that could record breathing performance over time would be extremely useful for both patients and doctors.
Electrocardiogram
Interpreting the electrical activity of the heart over time is useful. It can tell you the rate and regularity of your heartbeats, as well as the size and position of your heart chambers. The presence of heart damage, as well as the impact of drugs or heart rate regulation devices such as pacemakers, can also be detected from an ECG.
If used by caregivers this device can help automate recognition of possible problems, rather than relying solely on the human eye to detect potential irregularities. In addition, doctors could take this device to the field.
Katie Matlack is the Medical Software Analyst at Software Advice, where she writes about health IT including web based home health software. You can view the full article this story is based on on the Software Advice blog.