Medical Applications for the iPhone/iPod Touch

I am an iPhone owner, and because of that, I thought it would be fun to do a blog entry about medical applications for the iPhone/iPod Touch (all applications that I know of work on either). This is not to say that there aren’t really good applications for other mobile devices. In fact, some of the very things I talk about in this entry will work on OSX Palms and Blackberries.

I am including brief descriptions here, but keep in mind that you can search the iTunes store for more complete information. I have not personally used all of these applications (unless explicitly stated), and do not vouch for their accuracy. However, I have tried to pick applications with good reviews or that are well known.

I am including prices which are accurate as of February 10, 2009. Keep in mind that some apps may say they are free when , in fact, they are only free for people who subscribe to non-mobile version.

To start off, let’s talk about Pubmed and how it works with the iPhone/iPod Touch.

There are 4 Pubmed Applications

NextBio—Free—This application is put out by the company, NextBio. It covers Pubmed citations as well as information from NextBio themselves. This application has a simple mapping system and once you run a search, you can sort results by: literature, experiments, or clinical trials. I played with this application on my own iPhone and think it’s too basic for most researchers. There is no way to organize results by date or to access full text, however, you can email citations to someone if you want.

PubSearch—Free—This only searches Pubmed. It allows you do do simple searches, view citations and email them to yourself. There are no options for sorting citations or retrieving full text on your device. I tried it out, and while the results were not in perfect chronological order, it did look like more recent citations were being shown first. A nice feature is that you can leave the app, and when you come back your search will still be there. The same holds true for when you email citations.

PubSearch Plus—2.99—From what I can tell, the only difference between this and the PubSearch is the option for EZ Proxy. This would allow someone to have access to full text articles through their institution.

Pubmed on Tap—2.99— I have not tried this application, but after looking at the description and the screen shots, I was impressed. You can search by field (title, author, etc), and you can sort by title, author, journal and date. This application claims that it also has EZProxy support. What this means is that you would be able to access online full text if your institution has a subscription.

Final Thoughts on Pubmed Apps

If you want a free app for Pubmed, your best bet is PubSearch. If you need something a bit more robust, I would go with PubMed on Tap. It has a lot of features that will help run a more effective search. Also, I have tried searching Pubmed through the iPhone’s web browser, Safari, and I did not find it to be very difficulty, so you might want to save your money and your app space and just use Pubmed through your library’s homepage.

Free Apps for ECU Students, Faculty and Staff

If you are a student, faculty or staff of East Carolina University, you have access to a lot of great resources that you can put on your iPhone or iPod Touch. For more information, see the Laupus PDA page.

Other Applications Worth Mentioning

Netter’s Anatomy Flash Cards—39.99—This is a great app that allows you to look at over 300 brighly colored and fully labeled anatomical pictures. Small pegs mark different parts of the body and show the name when the user touches them. There is also a quiz feature so that you can test yourself. Laupus Library actually offers iPod touches for checkout, and this app is installed on every one. Interested in checking it out? You can find all the details on the Laupus Library Equipment Loan Program page.

Epocrates—Free—More than 3,300 brand and generic drug monographs, searchable by name or class. Peer-reviewed drug content summarized from a wide range of authoritative sources. Includes MediMath which provides dozens of medical applications.

ECG Guide-—4.99—Offers ECG interpretation for a cardiology perspective. Over 120 high resolution ECG images and a new quiz feature.

Skyscape—Free—This includes some free resources, as well as optional subscription resources. Free resources include: RxDrugs (drug information), Outlines in Clinical Medicine (evidence based clinical information), Archimedes (medical calculations), and MedAlert (up to date information based on your specialty).

Dr. Awesome—2.99—I don’t think it would be fair to do a blog entry on iPhone apps without talking about something fun. So, here is my favorite medically inspired game for the iPhone. This game is based on microsurgery. It gets the patient names from your contact list, and then you have to save your friends and family by operating on them and removing viruses from their cells. This game takes advantage of the iPhone’s ability to sense motion changes. My rating: AWESOME!

I want to thank Megan Besaw for helping out with this entry.