Smart Phones and Tablets Now Used as Medical Devices
There has been quite a buzz now in the medical field and personal health due to the emergence of tablets and smart phones. Their presence will now change the way we collect and process medical information.
Mobile Health, aptly shortened as mHealth, is a big breakthrough in the industry and covers a wide range of applications in the medical field and in personal health. There are self treatment apps, text reminders for pill and immunization schedules, even self tests for STDs, and reviewing radiology scans by the doctors can all be done on the go.
We can then look at some of the practical stuff and see which applications and gadgets are there for disease prevention, self diagnosis and treatment using just your smart phone or tablet. Apple has a lot of the apps and accessories geared towards mHealth that can be used by anyone and health professionals however Android is also catching up with the release of some mHealth apps in the Market.
Devices for you and for your doctor
Of course you know that there are ways to keep track of your vitals then upload them using a device such as Scosche myTrek or Polar WearLink+ on your iPhone or Android. You can also actually measure your blood pressure, conduct an ultrasound or spit on an STD diagnostic kit and see the results after a few minutes on your smart phone! Here are some of the apps that you can use so you can play doctor for a while.
Blood pressure monitors
You can compare the iHealth BP3 and the Withings BPM through a video found on one of the video sites. The Withings BPM can be used with the Withings Wi-Fi Body Scale too and this one can take measurements of the body’s BMI and other vital signs which can then be uploaded to your phone for reference.
Glucose meters
The most recent one in the market is the Sanofi IBGStar blood glucose meter accessory from AgaMatrix. It can be placed like a dock underneath the iPhone then it sends information to the iBGStar Diabetes Manager app that keeps record of your glucose, carb intake, and the dosage of insulin that you need to have.
Android users can also use the Glucose Meter and connect it to WaveSensevia Bluetooth to record the results. Nokia phone users can use Entra’s MyGlucoHealth Meter.
Those apps mentioned for recording glucose levels need to have an actual meter to take samples from your finger but many can find this invasive. For this, there is the nanosensor tattoo developed by a team from a university to take a photo of fluorescing nanoparticles that are implanted in your skin with an iPhone that has been placed in a special case. You will then see the results a few minutes after you have taken the sample.
If you haven’t got a smart phone, then it could be worth your while to recycle mobile phones for cash to get the money to buy yourself a smartphone, this means you will be able to use the apps talked about in this article. Getting cash for old mobiles and answering the question “how can i sell my phone“
