| MacUpdate Weekend Sale | :This weekend MacUpdate has slashed prices on Painter 12 and Painter Lite. Painter 12 retails for $429, but has been reduced by 54% to $199. Painter Lite has seen a 58% price cut from $69 to $29. Hurry, because these deals are only available until May 19th 2013. |
Cleveland Clinic and IBM are to work together to implement Watson's Deep Question Answering technology in a medical capacity. Researchers will work with Watson and medical students to improve the system's knowledge, as well as to find any challenges that could appear when putting such a technology to real-world use.
According to a Government Accountability Office report, wireless medical devices vulnerable to remote control by hackers are proliferating, and should come under greater government oversight. Devices with wireless connections potentially vulnerable to attack include insulin pumps, pacemakers, defibrillators, and neurosurgical implants.
Samsung has rolled out its S Health personal wellness application for the Galaxy S III. Mentioned in passing at the Samsung Unpacked launch event in May, S Health collects data from various healthcare sensors and meters, monitoring your health over time, and aims to help regulate exercise and personal nutrition, while aiding those with specialized medical needs.
Israeli medical device company Medigus has created what it claims to be the world's smallest video camera, with a diameter of just 0.99mm. The technology is geared for medical applications that require a small-diameter endoscopic device, potentially enabling new procedures that prove impossible with the larger cameras currently in use.
The continuing evolution of iOS devices, particularly the iPad, as medical tools took a historic step forward as the US Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Mobile MIM from MIM Software as the first mobile radiology app for viewing images and making medical diagnoses. While not intended to replace institutional workstations, it allows doctors to view CT, MRI and PET (et al) scans when there is no access to a workstation and without waiting for film. With the FDA's 510(k) clearance, the app should be available in the US App Store within a week.
Seattle-based AliveCor is unveiling a wireless casing for the iPhone 4 called the iPhone ECG that, combined with an accompanying app, turns the device into a hospital-quality electro-cardiogram measuring instrument (ECG) at the Consumer Electronics Show later this week. The unit, which is expected to sell for around $100, can be used to monitor heart conditions and pacemakers, alert users of atrial fibrillation and print or email the results as a PDF file.
Pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Aventis today launched its iBGStar hybrid medical device to monitor blood glucose levels that can also be plugged into an iPhone or an iPod touch. The iBGStar is USB-sized blood glucose monitor that works as a standalone monitor, or it can be used with the new iBGStar Diabetes Manager app. Users can download the app for free from the iTunes store early 2011, although the device itself still requires FDA 510(k) clearance.
The healthcare industry has shown strong interest in tablet computers, however the iPad may be missing several important features requested by physicians, according to a Software Advice survey. Over half of respondents claimed they were very likely or somewhat likely to purchase a tablet sometime in the coming year.
Visage Imaging has announced Visage 7, its first diagnostic imaging software based on thin client streaming technology. Designed for the medical industry, the software allows users to read, process and review every form of exam, ranging from plain film to cardiac, with specialized tools for radiologists, clinicians and referrers. The app includes a list of built-in tools for advanced programs such as CT/MR angiography, or Cardiac CT, and supports remote access to all functionality via a network connection.
In brief: Cortado has announced an update to its Hosted Exchange service for the iPhone, adding Mailbox creation support. CS Odessa delivers Snow Leopard support to its line of ConceptDraw applications featuring tools for project management and graphics creation. MacPractice, a developer of practice management and clinical applications, has added support for Apple’s latest Mac OS X 10.6 operating system to its MacPractice version 3.6.8 software.
MacPractice has added a number of new features in its MacPractice iPhone Interface 2.0 update. It now provides tools for remote charge and planned treatment posting, staff and doctor reminders, practice management reports and doctor referral data. The interface has been cleaned up, bringing a similar look to MacPractice's MD, DDS, DC and 20/20 desktop software. Doctors can connect to the office database for schedule info or patient records, along with detailed information such as photos, prescription histories, alerts and appointment histories.
MacSpeech has launched MacSpeech Dictate Medical, providing speech recognition and dictation software for medical professionals on the Mac platform. The software is designed specifically for medical and dental professionals and support staff, allowing dictation of text directly into applications and practice management systems. The software can issue numerous commands by voice, on the Macintosh, using an included, digitally enhanced USB headset/microphone. MacSpeech Dictate understands and supports vocabularies for more than 54 medical and dental disciplines and specialties, including general medicine, cardiology, dentistry, OB/GYN, pediatrics and others.
Medical image processing software OsiriX has been updated to OsiriX 3.5, with better rendering quality, a 3D-MPR viewer, support for 16-bit MIP images, multi-threading capabilities and more. The software is dedicated to viewing DICOM (.dcm) images, commonly used in the medical field for MRIs, CT, PET, Ultrasounds and other visual output devices. OsiriX can view other visual formats like Tiff, JPG, PDF, AVI, MPEG and QuickTime files. It supports multidimensional views, including standard 2D and 3D views and medical dimensions like 4D (3D plus temporal views) and 5D (3D plus temporal and functional views).
In brief: A new file transfer service has been launched that allows clients to transfer large files at speeds greater than standard FTP transfers. Alternativly, a new partnership has been announced between National Electronic Attachment and MacPractice. This partnership will bring new functions to MacPractice's software that will allow clients to submit documents such as x-rays electronically. On another note, a presentation earlier this month demonstrated the functionality of the new Cumulus/Quark Publishing System integration.
Edge Health Solutions will use Allscripts' enterprise version of ePrescribe in its future Mac-based medical software. Allscripts ePrescribe software provides prescription-ordering support for Mac users. The move comes as a 2009 electronic prescription initiative is about to begin, where physicians who prescribe medications electronically will be paid up to 2 percent of their annual Medicare billings, while physicians who fail to use the technology may be penalized an equal amount after 2012.
MacPractice has launched its MacPractice Kiosk Interface with signature pad (link is temporarily inactive) for the company's MacPractice MD, MacPractice DDS, MacPracticeDC and MacPractice 20/20 medical software. The kiosk is a customizable paperless solution for medical personnel to take registrations, health histories, consent forms and other medical records electronically with electronic signature support. The interface synchronizes with other MacPractice software, sending signed and filled forms from the kiosk Mac to the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) or Electronic Dental Record (EDR) in MacPractice MD or DDS.
MacPractice, which supplies Mac-based software for doctors, chiropractors and dentists, has updated its medical records software. MacPractice EMR now allows doctors to record patient visits with procedure codes and diagnoses, simplifying the billing process. The company says it has also improved the process of creating and sharing narrative medical reports.
McGraw-Hill Professional and Modality have joined forces to bring Zollinger's Atlas of Surgical Operations to the iPhone and iPod touch. The surgical reference applications are designed to provide medical students, residents, and surgeons with instant mobile access to step-by-step surgical procedures. Many of the included procedures provide narrated animations adapted from McGraw-Hill's AccessSurgery, an online surgical education resource that outlines each step from Indications and Preoperative Preparation to Closure and Postoperative Care.
ComChart Medical Software is attempting to promote the use of Apple computers within the medical community by offering a free license to use ComChart EMR for the remainder of 2008. ComChart EMR was designed in the office of a practicing physician and has been designed to be intuitive for other physicians. It allows the user to preform various tasks such as schedule appointments and keep medical records. It has been made in a way that allows users to customize almost every feature meaning a user can adapt the program to help with their specific needs. The application has most recently been updated to work with the iPhone, adding specific support for iPhone users accessing EMR's web interface.
Sandisk on Tuesday introduced the "WORM," or "Write Once Read Many" SD card for professional uses such as storing evidence in police investigations, court testimony, medical records and electronic voting. Sandisk claims original data written to WORM cards are "effectively locked" and there is "no physical way to alter or delete the files." If stored properly, the company claims, WORM SD cards have an archive live of up to 100 years.
OsiriX has released version 3.2 of its open-source medical and scientific imaging software, boasting improved performance and a host of new features. Based on the VTK, ITK and decmtk software development kits, OsiriX is fully natively compliant with the DICOM standard for medical images, as well as JPEG, TIFF PDF and AVI. In addition to an already extensive feature set, most notable developments in version 3.2 of the software include 80 percent faster rendering speed than previous versions and the return of 64-bit support on PowerPC G5-based systems. The full list of new features as documented in the release notes, is as follows:
MacPractice Inc this week announced the fruit of a recent collaboration with National Dental Inc, manufacturers of specialist cameras to the dental sector, introducing the first USB 'intraoral' camera for Apple-based dental practitioners. The DocPort Macro Intraoral camera comes complete with Mac OS X specific Macpractice DR photo software, and the option for a 'foot pedal' for ease of use.
Developer of MacPractice DDS, and Suni Medical, Imaging, Inc. announced a collaboration to develop a MacSensor solution, comprised of the newly introduced SuniRay sensor and MacPractice DR (Digital Radiography/Photo) software. The new SuniRay dental sensor uses the latest CMOS technology, and delivers high image quality with maximum diagnostic capabilities for dentists. SuniRay’s ergonomic design and rounded corners ensure easy positioning and optimal patient comfort.
OsiriX Medical Imaging Software today was updated to version 3.0, adding, among other things, Leopard compatibility and exclusivity. The new version has been revamped to include both a new, intuitive user interface, and vastly enhanced application performance. The radiologist-designed software has several new third-, fourth-, and fifth-dimension navigation features that have been added. OsiriX is a completely open source project, distributed under the Open Source General Public License.
