A Calgary, Canada research team developed a new software program to allow Canadian doctors to view brain scans and similar diagnostic images on a standard iPhone. Health Canada approved the software for medical use, a Calgary Heraldarticle said. The software application was designed by Ross Mitchell, a radiology professor at the University of Calgary, in conjunction with his students and his private firm Calgary Scientific Inc. It has taken two years from idea to completion of the software package, the article noted.
The profound implications for traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury patients could be many. If students who get concussions could have their brain scans immediately viewed and analyzed by doctors and experts around the world, a better diagnosis and treatment plan would be the result.
Mitchell said, ‘We really want to try to have a clinical impact if we can,’ the article reported. He added that he and his team often visit doctors for advice and input at Calgary’s Foothills Hospital. The software, called the Resolution MD Mobile Software, allows doctors to view three-dimensional medical images in high definition on the iPhone G3. The technology has the potential to allow more speedy diagnosis and to allow multiple experts from around the world to give their professional opinion quickly on critical cases.
Currently, the Foothills Hospital, the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona, and two other American Universities are conducting clinical trials of the technology. Mitchell said of the studies, ‘We did a stroke trial . . . and compared performance of radiologists reading on the iPhone to the standard clinical reading work station and the performance was identical,” the article reported.
The software package is also being tested on Apple’s new iPad, which offers a much larger screen for doctors to view the complex images for the process of diagnosis. Health Canada spokesman Phillippe Laroche said that the software application is licensed in Canada as a medical device. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Europe’s CE Mark have yet to approve the software application for medical use.
References:
Derworiz, Collette. (April 20, 2010) ‘Software lets doctors see brain scans on iPhone.’ Retrieved on April 21, 2010 from the Vancouver Sun Web site:http://www.vancouversun.com/Software+lets+doctors+brain+scans+iPhone/293…