The biggest drawback is price: $99 at the online Apple Store (or local Apple Store), and $75 online or at your local Walgreens for the peripheral, and it includes 50 initial test strips. Additional strips are $65 per 50 online through Walgreens. The app is free, and the manufacturer does offer a program to reduce the cost for the strips, down to about $20.

But the real test is whether or not it helps people achieve better glycemic control. Husain points out that while some evidence exists to support the claim that mobile devices help with glycemic control, a full clinical trial is needed to test the effectiveness of this device, perhaps in comparison with other devices as well.

Are you a person with diabetes who uses this or another mobile device to track your BG levels? Does it help improve your success at glycemic control? What strengths and weaknesses does your system have? Tell us about it!

These are the kids that are learning independence, that are leaving the house more often, that aren’t eating right, or listening to their nagging parents. Now imagine them with a chronic illness such as diabetes. These kids are notorious for taking fewer and fewer blood glucose readings per day, eating improperly, and generally having a defiant streak in them.

Adolescents who used this device got points for compliance with the regular BG monitoring regimen, which earned them music and apps through the iTunes store. This pilot test of the system with twenty kids saw an increase in regular BG measurements of 49.5%, clearly demonstrating the need for a bigger study. The app also offered a Twitter-like microblog community capability for peer support and encouragement. Below is a video demonstrating use of the bant system.

One idea in this blog post caught my attention: their focus on developing an app to provide a solution in a way that can be clearly demonstrated:

Although we take the design and development of this smartphone platform very seriously, we aren’t interested in creating gadgets. As a research hospital, we take the opportunity cost of building such a system seriously. We need real tangible results. Hence, we spend more time and money evaluating the technologies that we develop than on building them. Our findings feed the next iteration of the technology. This is an example of evidence-based design. Consider it user-centered design on steroids.

After working for over two years to support evidence based research, it seems a natural next-step to consider applying such a standard to the development of medical devices and apps. I look forward to reading about a follow-up study on this devices.

Do you or someone you know struggle with juvenile diabetes? Would a system like this be helpful in encouraging healthy behavior? Why or why not? Tell us about it!

As noted in a review by iMedicalApps, InfantRisk Center has a user-friendly layout and design, along with a well-organized database of quality information. Medications are rated on a scale from “Safest” to “Hazardous,” with icons to help users visually differentiate between ratings. It also includes “quick access to the InfantRisk Center’s hotline for questions, a “Hot Topics” section, a personalized search function, as well as the ability to bookmark frequently used drugs and information for easy-access in the future” (from iMedicalApps review).

While the medication information base is broad, it is not comprehensive, and less-commonly-used drugs may not show up in a search. The alphabetical listing of drugs also lacks the helpful right-side A-Z listing to make switching between letters easier. While the $29.99 price may seem high for those used to purchasing apps for a few dollars, the potential time savings from this reference tool is worth serious consideration.

Have you used this app, or a similar one? How do you like it? Tell us about it!

This column has featured many posts on mobile technology during the past two years, with particular emphasis on applications for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. This would not have been possible without the vision and creativity of the late Steve Jobs, founder and former CEO of Apple Computer, who passed away yesterday at the age of 56. Jobs transformed our relationship with computers and technology, democratizing access and enabling everyday people to do basic and amazing things.

Prior to Apple Computer’s debut, a select few had the know-how and access to utilize the enormous machines in temperature-controlled rooms at select sites in universities, businesses and government agencies. Jobs and his team at Apple built computers (Apple II, Macintosh, iMac, etc.) with graphical user interfaces (GUI, for short) that simplified interaction between human and machine so that everyday people could own and operate one.

When Steve Jobs gave the 2005 commencement speech at Stanford University, he spoke of his brush with death when he was first diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which his physician indicated would probably be incurable:

“I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery.”

Jobs had the surgery and recovered from the cancer.

During the last 2-3 years, medical uses of mobile devices such as the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad have increased dramatically, from interactive medical textbooks, to tracking blood glucose levels, to eye exams, to low-cost medical technology — with too many more examples to name in a single post. Steve Jobs looked beyond what was to what could be done with computing:

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”

So I tip my hat in tribute to Steve Jobs, whose technological vision and creativity will live on to help many have better health through technology.

(Photo from Wikipedia article on Steve Jobs.)

1. Teaching: For medical schools that are teaching eye examinations — instead of having to look at static pictures of eye anatomy, this “live view” could be an optimal and innovative way to teach. This could also be a great way for an ophthalmology attendings to save key eye pathology that they visualize in the mobile setting for teaching purposes.
2. Use in mobile clinics: This could be a good screening tool for various eye pathology — and not necessitate the need for an ophthalmologists or physician to be on site. A physician could view the saved images at a later time and determine correct interventions. (From iMedicalApps blog)

This last idea could be very handy in a disaster area, or in rural areas in poorer countries where no little or no medical services exist.

Below is a video demonstration of how this technology works, including taking fundus photography.

One drawback of this system is that it only works with the iPhone 4, not the iPad or iPod touch.

• 8 built-in search engines for access to millions of articles.
• Download and store PDFs of the articles you read.
• Highlight and add notes to your PDFs.
• Pinch and zoom features native to the iPad.
• Email, print and share a paper with other Papers users wirelessly.
• Stores 5,000 papers.
• Import papers from web-based storage services like Dropbox.

Papers will sync with the desktop version ($79), adding even more powerful literature management.

Papers is also available for the iPhone.

Have you used Papers, either the mobile or the desktop version? Tell us about it!

At the bottom of any EBSCO search or search results page there is a link “New: EBSCOhost iPhone/iPod Touch Application.” When clicked on, this link opens a window where you can enter your email to receive the two-step instructions for installing the app.

1. Download the app from the iTunes App Store, and sync it to your iPhone/iPod touch.
2. EBSCO sends you a verification email. View the email on your iPhone and tap on the link to authenticate your app in order to access all the subscription databases University of Utah Libraries subscribe to.

According to the iTunes App Store, this robust app “enables users to:

• Choose which databases to search
• Limit results to full text or peer reviewed
• Sort by relevance or date
• Retrieve full text results in HTML and/or PDF formats
• Save results for offline access at a later date
• Email results to self or others
• View cover flow display of results”

In addition, it will save your 25 most recent searches automatically.

One feature that is lacking is the ability to export results to citation management software such as EndNote. Perhaps if EBSCO made it possible to sync search results with the “My EBSCOhost” feature of the online version, the end user could easily save their search results to EndNote when they get back to their computer.

Have you used EBSCOhost’s mobile app, or another one like it? Tell us about it!

• View images and related text.
• Search image captions, keywords and references to refine search results.
• Bookmark images for later research.
• Email images to your friends and colleagues.

Like so many apps on the market, SpringerImages has multiple subscription levels. The free, basic level allows viewing of images from Open Access, peer-reviewed articles,which amounts to about one-tenth of the three million images in their database. If you choose to pay for improved access, the options include “Medical and Life Sciences (Mobile)” for $29.99, and “All Subjects (Mobile)” for $49.99 per their sign-up system.

The “Home” screen feels crowded, with the top most item showing a tally of the number of images in their database and the number you actually have access to. Below this are a search box, a button for advanced searching, and a list to browse by topic that is so narrow that the user is more likely to select a topic rather than brush to scroll.

I offer two suggestions for making this app more widely available. First, many libraries and other institutions subscribe to SpringerImages for their quality content. Why not offer free or reduced-price access to the equivalent mobile version for students, faculty and librarians? This would get their product in the hands of more end users right away, and have the potential of bringing in new customers down the road when students graduate, or faculty & librarians change institutions. And second, while this app can be used on the iPad, a tablet-friendly version would allow for a better browsing experience.

Do you have a favorite medical images app you use? Tell us about it!

According to the Technology Review website published by MIT, using

a nanosensor “tattoo” and a modified iPhone, cyclists could closely monitor sodium levels to prevent dehydration, and anemic patients could track their blood oxygen levels.

A team at Northeastern University’s Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences is working to make this possible. They have created a specialized, invisible “tattoo” with nanosensors to detect sodium and glucose levels without breaking the skin. Once the tattoo is applied, the end user slips a case over their iPhone which contains “a nine-volt battery, a filter that fits over the iPhone’s camera, and an array of three LEDs that produce light in the visible part of the spectrum” which can read the tattoo. For now, researchers are exporting the data to a computer for analysis. In the future, it is hoped that an app can be developed to do this work.

No doubt diabetics and others who have to take their own blood samples on a regular basis would welcome an end to needle sticks! Do you have an idea for an app that could replace a regular and annoying medical procedure? Tell us about it!

(Thanks to the iMedicalApps blog for this information!)

According to the iMedicalApps blog, this version is only for individual subscribers. Institutional subscribers such as the University of Utah will have a longer wait due to significant technical differences in the way it is implemented. In some institutions, it is integrated into the electronic medical record (EMR), which poses privacy and security issues. When it becomes available here, the Eccles Health Sciences Library will post it to this blog and to our list of mobile applications.

Preparation

Among our most recent e-book purchases is the book Disaster Medicine edited by Hogan and Burnstein. As the editors point out in the first chapter, disaster medicine is

“a system of study and medical practice associated primarily with the disciplines of emergency medicine and public health. Disaster medicine is concerned with the health and medical and emotional issues of disaster casualties. To provide care efficiently, however, the health care provider must be familiar with several elements of disaster management, including planning, mitigation, assessment, response and recovery.”

The book goes on to flesh out these aspect of disaster medicine in detail. In addition, it covers three basic categories of disasters:

• natural disasters,
• industrial, technological and transportation disasters, and
• conflict-related disasters.

Disaster Medicine is available online to University of Utah authorized users, or just search our catalog.

Support

But in a disaster a care provider does not have time to read a textbook. But most of us carry a mobile device which can be used for quick, on-the-spot reference and guidance. Unbound Medicine’s free Relief Central “mobile and web resource developed by staff and friends of Unbound Medicine to assist relief workers, first responders, and others called to serve in disaster relief situations around the world.” It includes the CIA World Factbook, the Field Operations Guide from USAID, MEDLINE Journals, and Relief News from the CDC, Red Cross, FEMA, ReliefWeb, and more. Install this app now and its invaluable information will be at your fingertips even if the telecommunications network is down. It is available for download to your iPod touch®, iPhone®, BlackBerry®, Android™, Palm®, or Windows Mobile® device.

Your turn!

If you’ve worked to provide emergency services in a disaster setting, what are your recommended tools and resources? If you’ve used Relief Central, how helpful was it?

“Kaplan is offering 100 free e-books through iBooks, Apple’s e-reader for the iPad and the iPhone. For those in the medical field, there are plenty of books to choose from. The e-books range from Kaplan USMLE step 1, 2, and 3, to novels about Intern life. These books from Kaplan are usually $29.99 in other e-book formats. The deal is only valid in the Apple Bookstore, and lasts until August 30th.”

The author goes on to note that while the books can be read on an iPhone (and probably an iPod touch), “they are significantly easier to read on the iPad.” If you haven’t bought an iPad yet but think you might, you can still download them in iTunes, then add them to your iPad later. The blog posting offers screenshots of how these e-books will look on an iPad.

What do you think: will we just move to an e-book reader model for all students, requiring yet another high-tech, high-cost purchase?