The new cutting edge of the mobile app development industry may surprise many an entrepreneur: Healthcare and Medicine. But the truth is that these medicines and tech have long walked hand in hand. The difference today is we’re used to viewing apps as something with which you use to order coffee, or get directions, or reserve a table at restaurants, or….. The point here is that while people may not often think of Smartphones as a medical device, in reality, apps can turn your phone into a device for nearly any industry. What’s more is that the Medical tech business is growing exponentially. As a Medical app development company, we’ve recently seen an uptick in innovative apps (and ideas for apps – contact us if you have one!) for medical devices. The calls we’ve been receiving recently range from VR app ideas for surgeons to building proof of concepts for healthcare apps. A proof of concept is a great way for any entrepreneurs to attract outside investment – i.e. Angel Investors and Venture Capitalist firms. (read more on Proof of Concepts here). But today, we’re going to focus on how lives can be saved (and are being saved) with high-quality medical apps for smart devices. Epilepsy & Seizures One really cool area of this fascinating industry is how so many entrepreneurs are using gadgets like the Apple Watch. In this case, medical app development companies like SDI have learned to leverage a device’s accelerometer. Why, one may ask? Well, an accelerometer detects motion. This makes it pretty effective in detecting odd motions – as in a seizure. An app can be built for a Smart Device (i.e. the Pebble or the Apple Watch) that detects the frequency at which seizures occur. There are some issues, but this is a pretty big deal all the same. In the future apps that detect Grand Mal (aka Tonic-Clonic) seizures stand to save hundreds to thousands of Epileptics around the world. Once the device picks up the occurrence of a Tonic-Clonic seizure, an app is needed to come over and do the important stuff – including notifying emergency services of the seizure – plus the victim’s exact location. A medical app for iPhone and Android can also provide instructions for people nearby the victim. This can happen by coding in a forced messaging system. Once the medical gadget detects a seizure, we can code the app to automatically turn on the screen of your Mobile phone (or SmartWatch), displaying information on the victim as well as a guide on what can be done to help. Another way innovators are using apps and smart medical devices to help epileptics is by detecting electrical currents – through sweat. Yea, Sweat. Weird, right? This wristband is as accurate as the device hospitals use to detect and monitor seizures. In fact, there is some hope that it can actually end up predicting seizures. SDI don’t itself build these medical smart devices – but we build the apps that can integrate with these devices. But there’s more to it than that. Modern technologies allow us to turn almost any mobile platform or gadget into a medical device. Our skilled developers frequently write app code intended to turn a phone into a medical device – email us at team@sdi.la to learn more. Medical Apps for Doctors Medical Apps aren’t just for patients though. Sure, having a HIPAA-compliant app is great for many patient-facing issues. These can range from the aforementioned apps to detect seizures to apps that provide care information (i.e. which drugs, how many, what to do in a medical emergency, etc). But Doctors can benefit as much from medical apps for a mobile device. Apps like Epocrates provide doctors with a guide on drug prescriptions and healthcare coverage (a great feature for both Doctors and Patients!). Other apps, like Skyscape, have a series of great features to help doctors make medical conclusions: ♦ Drug information: Including uses, dosages, side effects, and even recent clinical trials. ♦ Medical Calculator – this is a great tool that helps doctors and nurse calculate commonly used medical formulas. ♦ Clinical Trials – This feature provides health practitioners with access to information on all sorts of clinical trials (not just for drugs) ♦ Continuing with this as a resource app, Skyscape also summarizes articles from the top Medical Journals in the US. If you’re like me, you’re probably thinking “yea but I don’t know anything about HealthCare, how can I build an app that helps?” Well, Doctors and nurses don’t just need information or research resources. Often, the need is more practical and administrative. Apps like Doximity let healthcare practitioners create a HIPAA-compliant app to communicate with other doctors. Doximity and others allow doctors to easily and confidentially relay patient information to other doctors (i.e. specialists). It also opens up the door for doctors to safely and securely communicate with one another over email and text. In other words, you don’t have to develop an app that measures sweat to succeed in this industry! The Bay Area’s Medical App Development Company SDI builds HIPAA-compliant apps for healthcare. We believe in the power of medical apps to save lives and change the world – and we want to help you build your own medical app for any smartphone or smart device. Check out some of our work we’ve already done and then get in touch to start building your own app today. You can also reach us by phone at 408.621.8481 or 408.805.0495.