CAT Scans, MRI Coming to Docs' Mobile Devices (454 hits)
The Food and Drug Administration approved a new mobile application that will allow doctors to look at medical images on their iPhones, iPads and the iPod Touch, the agency announced Friday.
Doctors will now be able to view images remotely from a number of machines including computed tomography (CT scans), magnetic resonance imaging (MRIs) and positron emission tomography–better known as PET scans, and make a diagnosis. The new app, called the Mobile MIM, is the first to be cleared by the FDA for use with mobile devices.
"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," said Dr. William Maisel, chief scientist and deputy director for science in the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health.
The new technology was developed by MIM Software, Inc., a medical imaging software company that provides software for radiologists and oncologists. "Establishing a diagnostic protocol for medical imaging is no simple matter for a device like the iPhone or iPad," said Mark Cain, Chief Technology Officer, MIM Software, Inc. "It is critical to understand the characteristics of the device and to establish methods and tools that are safe and effective, while working within those constraints. There has been a gap in the market for a remote imaging device like this, and now it can be filled."
Mobile MIM will not replace workstations in doctor's offices, hospitals, or clinics, and, more than likely, will be used only when doctors don't have access to their workspace. Cain says they chose Apple because its mobile operating system has huge market penetration. He expects the new app to be available in the Apple App Store next week.
