News
Take a ‘Peek’ into the future and help make it a reality
In the future, your next eye exam may just happen right from a smartphone. We have previously mentioned the Portable Eye Examination Kit, or ‘Peek’; a device that could make that future a reality. The team previously worked on a suite of apps to help with examining the eye with a mobile phone and recently have turned their attention at improving the equipment used to do so. The device is a clip-on camera adapter for your phone that allows it to become a low cost ophthalmoscope and retinal camera. ‘Four out of five people who are blind,...
read moreGoogle Fit: Android’s answer to Health Kit
Google I/O came and went last week and one of the expected announcement came labelled “Google Fit”. This story may sound similar to our previous post outlining Apple’s Health Kit, to which comparisons will undoubtedly be made. Google Fit will provide a an integrated platform on the Android OS for it to communicate with a variety of mHealth tracking devices. Unlike Apple, Google has not revealed a central “app” that collates all the data. Rather, it is trying to make a standard platform that would allow devices from different manufacturers to...
read moreHealth tracking built in with your new smartphone: a new revolution?
WWDC is a big annual event for all things related to Apple and this year it certainly did not disappoint. We have previously covered many mHealth technologies that are paired to the now ubiquitous smartphone but after the main keynote of the event, it seems that Apple, one of the world’s biggest consumer electronics companies, is ready to throw it’s weight behind mHealth as well. We previously reported the rumours in February where it was suggested that Apple was incorporating Health related features into iOS. Now, the announcement is...
read moreA doctor’s guide to smarter phone use
Ed: Dr Perera, Editor-in-chief of JMTM has recently written a piece for Avant’s member magazine. The piece from the magazine is presented below. Most Australian hospitals have yet to develop, let alone enforce, smartphone guidelines. This leaves doctors in a grey zone. As such, we must take reasonable measures to ensure patient privacy and safety is not compromised. Apps A recent survey found that 87%1 of doctors use personal mobile devices for clinical use. Of those, 62% have medical apps on their smartphones. While having reference...
read moreApplication of Smartphone Devices in Ophthalmic Photography
The most recent issue of JMTM included an editorial on clinical photography. One keen reader, Dr John Davis, a Junior Opthalmic Resident at JIPMER has compiled an interesting “how to” article summarising some practical tips. While the debate on the ethics and legalities of taking clinical photos remains a debated topic, this guide is aimed at increasing the quality of the images, if you do decide to take them. Guest news post below. Application of Smartphone Devices in Ophthalmic Photography Dr John Davis We live in an age where technology is...
read moremHealth changes endoscope-i
Endoscopic procedures are getting an mHealth overhaul with a UK based company developing fibre optic endoscope attachments for the iPhone. Endoscope-i (company name) has produced a specific rigid endoscope, light source and adapter that can be coupled with a custom case for iPhone 4/5/5s which acts as the screen for the device. The company isn’t just stopping there: it has released specific iOS apps that can take the image from the phones camera module and optimise the image quality for endoscopy to give optimal performance for the set up....
read moreThe Unrealized Potential of mHealth
The Unrealized Potential of mHealth Predictions about the rapid growth of the mobile healthcare market in the future are paired with great optimism about what this technology can achieve, but despite the progress that has been made, there are still some significant limitations and concerns that might restrict the uptake of this type of technology. Until these issues can be addressed, the potential of mHealth may remain unrealized. The Year’s Top Inventions The growing importance of mHealth and healthcare technology in general is reflected by...
read moreApple to embrace mHealth?
Though this is purely rumours at present, multiple sources across the internet are reporting that Apple maybe taking a keen interest in the mHealth space with its upcoming devices. Several sources in the tech industry are reporting that the upcoming version of the iPhone and the operating system, iOS 8, will focus heavily on mobile healthcare and fitness. These rumours do not seem far fetched given the surprise addition of the M7 motion coprocessor in the current iPhone 5s, which specifically is geared towards personal tracking. One of the...
read morePlacebo sleep polishes performance
In the current day in age, it is an all too common an occurrence to feel a constant lack of good quality sleep. While it is common to hear people talk about how tired they are or how little sleep they are getting, new research shows that getting “placebo sleep” can actually increase performance as well. So what is “placebo sleep”? The researchers suggest that an individuals mindset about the quality of their sleep could effect their performance. To test this hypothesis, they devised a great experiment. Participants were asked on a scale of 1...
read moreTime for Uber Healthcare?
What do taxi’s and healthcare have in common? Until just recently, not much at all. This changed earlier in the week when one of the core members, Oscar Salazar, of the personal transport service Uber, announced his intention to tackle the healthcare puzzle. While details about the venture are currently scarce, investigations by several sources and anonymous tip offs have started to give this rumour some substance. An unnamed source was quoted saying, “It will work like Uber, but with doctors coming to you. I mean, it will start out for...
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