So when Steve Jobs and his Apple team were coming up with iphone I bet no-one put “iPhone will replace stethoscope and a developer will make money developing an app”. This just goes to show the futility of modern IT business cases but more importantly it highlights how a communication tool (iPhone) that is relatively open (i know Steve still has to say yes) to development can help revolutionise an industry.
I’ve said/written this many times but we are only starting to scratch the surface that Unified Communication can provide.
The stethoscope – medical icon, lifesaver and doctor’s best friend – is disappearing from hospitals across the world as physicians increasingly use their smartphones to monitor patients’ heartbeats.
More than 3 million doctors have downloaded a 59p application – invented by Peter Bentley, a researcher from University College London – which turns an Apple iPhone into a stethoscope.
Last week, Bentley introduced a free version of the app, which is being downloaded by more than 500 users a day. Experts say the software, a major advance in medical technology, has saved lives and enabled doctors in remote areas to access specialist expertise.
“Everybody is very excited about the potential of the adoption of mobile phone technology into the medical workplace, and rightly so,” said Bentley, who initially developed the app “as a fun toy”.
“Smartphones are incredibly powerful devices packed full of sensors, cameras, high-quality microphones with amazing displays,” he said. “They are capable of saving lives, saving money and improving healthcare in a dramatic fashion – and we carry these massively powerful computers in our pockets.”
Read the iStethoscope article in the Guardian here the article describes other Telemedicince technologies too.
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