Saturday, May 14, 2011

Diagnosing Stroke Via iPhone App

When I first saw the title I missed the part about doctors and was trying to figure out how an iPhone would be able to go thru the FAST checklist, mainly because this title was the first reference I saw: Diagnosing Stroke Via iPhone Apphttp://technology.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474979314817
The stroke app a.k.a. ResolutionMD Mobile app will soon be available for iPhone customers. The app allows doctors to remotely and accurately diagnose patients in the midst of having a stroke. This new app will undoubtedly save several lives.
University of Calgary (U of C) discovered that remote stroke diagnosis by doctors using a screen about the size of a palm was just as accurate as if the diagnosis was done via a workstation at a hospital. After this surprising find, researchers at U of C created the stroke app which allows doctors to "high-resolution 3-D brain and diagnostic images on a mobile device." The research involved about "200 brain and head scans."
University of Calgary's Dr. Mayank Goyal said, "What we found was our ability to make correct accurate diagnosis on the iPhone was very high."
Because of the time crunch involved with having a stroke, doctors are hopeful that more patients will be properly diagnosed and saved by the stroke app. U of C's Dr. Ross Mitchell was the founding father of the idea seven years ago. He said, "It's good for the doctor, they can be anywhere, at the (hockey) game, at the mall, at home, they can get phoned on the device and immediately start not just looking, but doing advanced manipulation and interrogation of data sets from very, very far away."
Fortunately, all confidential patient records will be inaccessible via the stroke app. Only pertinent information will be streamed via a server to the iPhone's screen. Technology keeps advancing and lives are being saved quicker. It's a truly amazing time to be alive, isn't it?

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