There's an App for That

The iPhone finds its place in radiology

Ever since the iPhone was first introduced two years ago, it’s been the gadget to have and to flaunt. Nevermind that it’s a phone, iPod, camera, Internet browser, and general time killer, the coolest thing the iPhone can do is . . . everything. That’s right – it can do everything.

There are downloadable applications (“apps”) for checking the weather or the stock market, watching videos on YouTube, tuning your music instrument, reading Shakespeare, setting your DVR, cooking dinner, buying a house, and – of course – playing games.

There are also lots of radiology-related iPhone apps, many of which were developed by radiologists themselves. For the gadget-savvy, this is not news. But for those of you without an iPhone, be prepared to google the closest Apple store, because you’re going to want one.

The influx of medical imaging apps began late last year, and new ones continue to pop up every day. From OstriX, the open-source DICOM viewer, comes an app for looking at X-rays, ultrasounds, CT, and MR images – even reconstructing 3-D images and manipulating them. Comparable to that is the Merge Mobile app, which enables radiologists to view cases and, when necessary, forward critical findings directly and securely to a patient’s referring physician.

Then there’s Mobile MIM, which received the Apple Design Award for Best iPhone Healthcare & Fitness Application last year. It similarly provides multi-planar reconstruction of data sets from CT, PET, MRI, and SPECT, as well as multi-modality image fusion. The foreseeable downside to these apps, apart from pending FDA clearance, is that HIPAA privacy implications have not been fully explored.

One app created just last month is eRoentgen Radiology DX, which recommends the most appropriate test in an effort to improve diagnostic accuracy and reduce unnecessary tests. In its description, eRoentgen boasts itself as a constantly updated, invaluable tool for radiologists and primary care physicians.

As concern over radiation risk has increased, there are now more apps for tracking radiation exposure for patients. Radiation Passport calculates cancer risk by keeping track of imaging procedures while taking into account other sources of radiation exposure such as air travel. For nuclear medicine physicians and technologists, Dose Calculator helps determine radioisotope parameters when you input the isotope, calibration time, calibration dose, and administration time.

So maybe you think these apps aren’t absolutely necessary. Your department functioned just fine before them, right? Well, there’s plenty more you can do with iPhone apps that will improve your work life. The Samurai Radiologist, a radiologist with an active blog (which you can read on an iPhone), listens to radiology journal articles in his car by using Textcast, an app that translates texts into audio files. He also uses the Urbanspoon app to find great food in an unfamiliar city – such as, say, Chicago during RSNA.

And you know what else you can do on an iPhone? Read rt image online. Do you use an iPhone in your practice? Love it? Hate it? Skeptical? E-mail me and let me know what you think.

– Stephanie Twining
stwining@rt-image.com