Mobile Application Developers get Approval for First Medical Application
Mobile Applications Penetrate into the Medical Industry
The U.S. Food and Drug administration (FDA) recently announced that they have tested and approved of the first ever mobile application that will allow doctors to view medical scan images from their mobile device rather than always having to be in the hospital to perform such a task. Although this mobile app is only designed to do specific functions and have limited capabilities; it is a big step for the mobile application industry as mobile application developers have now found a way to penetrate the medical industry and also have optimism that the FDA will and can approve a mobile application if it sees fit. This specific mobile application was initially designed to be used on Apple’s iPhone and iPad but many mobile application developers believe that it will also be available on Google’s Android, Windows Phone 7 development, RIM’s Blackberry and Palm Smartphone devices within the year.
This new mobile application developed by MIM Software Inc will primarily be used in hospital radiology departments or physician’s offices and it will be able to send images from computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and nuclear medicine technology (PET) to a physician’s mobile device for further examination and diagnosis. Many mobile application developers have long felt that the mobile app can be a huge benefit for the medical industry and this mobile application is expected to be the first step of many for mobile applications and the medical industry. One doctor stated:
“This important mobile technology provides physicians with the ability to immediately view images and make diagnoses without having to be back at the workstation or wait for film”
As convenient and appealing as this mobile application can seem, there will be certain restriction put forth by the FDA to ensure doctors and physicians do not misuse the benefits of having images available on the go. One of the biggest restrictions the FDA installed was that this mobile app can only be used when the physician has no access to a workstation. This has caused some debate within mobile application developers and the FDA since the FDA would not know if a physician is using the mobile application on their mobile devices out of convenience instead of going to their workstations to view the images or not.
The process to create such a mobile application was very long and there were many barriers which mobile application developers had to overcome in order to get FDA approval but now that it is finally available in the United States Apple iTunes Marketplace, MIM Software is hoping this will be a stepped stone for them to create many more mobile application on various Smartphone devices in the near future. The mobile application industry is clearly heading in the right direction and with each industry that mobile application developers are able to penetrate, the more momentum the mobile application industry is gaining for the future. Where the mobile application industry will be in the next few years is still unclear but one thing for certain is if mobile application developers continue to create mobile apps at the rate they are right now; the mobile application industry will be everywhere.