5 Technologies Cutting through mHealth Hype5 Technologies Cutting through mHealth Hype

2. Smartphones as Medical DevicesThe potential of smartphones to be leveraged as medical devices ranging from otoscopes to jaundice detectors for newborn babies has significant potential to enable doctors to diagnose health problems remotely. For instance, the CellScope has created an otoscope attachment for iPhones (shown here) that would enable parents to take medical-grade pictures of a child’s inner ear. The parent could then send digital pictures from the device to a pediatrician, who could then either let the parent know whether the child’s ear looks healthy or whether they should bring their child in for an office visit.AliveCor, the maker of smartphone heart monitors, has steadily increased the functionality of its products, recently debuting a cloud-based automated atrial fibrillation detector for its products. Users with suspected abnormalities can send ECG data to remote cardiologists for confirmation of a problem.Meanwhile, University of Washington researchers have developed an app called BiliCam that uses a smartphone’s camera and flash in conjunction with a color calibration card to diagnose jaundice in infants. A common condition in infants—especially those born prematurely, jaundice symptoms are typically mild for most babies. In some cases, however, jaundice can cause severe harm and be potentially be fatal to the infant if left untreated. The BiliCam can help tell the difference.Not everyone is impressed with such developments. “Clinicians investigate and treat causes not just symptoms. This isn't particularly useful,” Saif Abed, co-founder of British healthcare strategy firm AbedGraham Healthcare Strategies, remarked on Twitter about the jaundice app. Abed thinks “core interoperable infrastructure” is the major challenge requiring resources.Related Content:Smartphone App Can Detect Jaundice in NewbornsDigital Health Firm Debuts Automated AFib Detector