Here's today's snapshot of the currently most popular, top selling apps in the AppStore's "medical category" of apps. This list is, for the most part, targeting healthcare professionals much more so than the apps in our last round up. Interesting to note that these are paid apps, while the last one was free, which might provide one explanation. The majority of these apps seem to have been designed with the clinician or medical student in mind -- these are apps that can be used as a quick medical reference for health professionals or as a teaching tool for care provider discussing health issues with patients.
1) Muscle Trigger Points
This app features visuals of common trigger points in over 70 muscles and explains how different areas of the body might be affected by muscle tightness. From the company: "great for massage therapists, physical therapists, chiropractors, or anyone wanting to discovery the source of muscular pain, and learn about muscle function." Though it might not necessarily be a useful learning tool for professionals, we do agree that the app could be helpful in demonstrating to patients the origin of their pain and explaining how the muscles work together.
2) iPharmacy
Designed to help physicians prescribe drugs, this app features FDA information for over 6,000 commonly prescribed drugs organized into sections: Indications & usage, dosage & administration, contraindications, warnings & precautions, adverse reactions, drug interactions, and overdosage. It is, however, not affiliated with the FDA, of course.
3) 5-0 Radio: Police, Airport, Fire, EMS scanner
From the company: "Be the first to know about important news, events, or the first to know about any major crime waves happening in your town." This app offers users the chance to tap into live feeds from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, LAX Air Traffic Control Tower, San Francisco BART System, New York Police/Fire Department, Chicago PD, and more. But is this really of any use for the medical community? Maybe, but it sounds more like an app for the hobbyist.
4) Human Body Anatomy
The name really says it all: this app is quite simply an encyclopedia of the human body. In addition to diagrams, this app includes quite a bit of text explaining how fourteen human body systems function. Though medical in nature, this app is intended for beginner use, not a medical professional with years of study under her belt.
5) iMeds - The Medication Reference
This app requires no internet connection to access prescribing information for 6,500+ FDA-approved medications. You can search for a medication by name, active ingredient, manufacturer, form and find information about dosage, indications and usage, black box warnings, contraindications, warnings, and much more. Though its medical applicability is clear, the app's disclaimer clearly states it should not be used for anything other than informational purposes, "makes no guarantees to its accuracy and is not responsible for errors or omissions."
6) Drugs & Medications
The third app on the top ten list to feature information about prescription drugs, which speaks to the popularity of these kinds of apps. According to the company, new and improved features include: drug manufacturer info, route of administration and drug form, more drug names from other countries, and more. What seems to distinguish this app from the previous two is that it allows you, given you have an internet connection, to retrieve FDA label info for most drugs directly from the FDA.
7) AcneApp
Trouble with acne? This iPhone app boasts a solution: Hold your phone up to the affected area and let it do the work. Makers of the app recommend alternating between the blue and red light, blue to fight bacteria and red to heal your skin. Though this app was developed by a dermatologist, AcneApp reminds users it is "for entertainment purposes only and is not intended for treatment of any disease or medical condition." However, this app is about to become the focus of the very first clinical trial of a phone-based application at Baylor College of Medicine.
8) Instant ECG: An Electrocardiogram Rhythms Interpretation Guide
According to the iAnesthesia LLC, Instant ECG was designed with physicians, nurses, paramedics, and other health care professionals in mind. From the company: This app features 90+ high resolution ECG examples; 30 high-definition full screen movies (without audio) of the most common arhythmias; reference Netter images of the heart, its blood supply, MI correlation to the ECG, and myocardial action potential.
9) BabyBump (Pregnancy App)
No more need to open up a book to find out what to expect when you're expecting. According to the app's creator, Alt12 Apps, BabyBumps features the following pregnancy info in English, Spanish and French: a countdown to your due date; weekly details about your baby's size, weight, and development; common symptoms, cravings, and bodily changes you can might experience each week; a contraction tracker; a kick counter; and more.
10) Atlas of Anatomy
As its name implies, this app "maps out" the human body. Positioned as a database of illustrations of the human body, the Atlas of Anatomy app may become a useful tool for physicians to quickly and visually demonstrate to patients where they are experiencing pain or medical problems. Easier than using an anatomical chart?
