Elsevier

The Surgeon

Volume 9, Issue 1, February 2011, Pages 44-48
The Surgeon

Review
The uses of the iPhone for surgeons

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.surge.2010.07.014Get rights and content

Abstract

Mobile technology is continuously improving and it is important that all physicians are aware of its new advances. Smartphones have the potential to improve diagnostic skills and education of a surgeon.

The iPhone is a popular type of smartphone in the market. This article intends to educate surgeons about its uses, functions and medical applications. The phone is an invaluable tool for the modern day surgeon.

Introduction

The mobile phone has become an essential tool that is found in all doctors’ pockets. The phones have become more sophisticated over time, especially with the introduction of third generation technology in 2001. This has vastly increased both the capacity and also the speed of mobile phones. There are many third generation phones available in the market, among the most popular are the Blackberry® and the iPhone.

The iPhone is a smartphone produced by Apple Inc.® and was introduced in the USA in June 2007. Since then over 33 million phones have been sold worldwide1 and the number of European iPhone users rose by 161% in the year running up to April 2010.2 It has been awarded various awards, including the Invention of the Year in 2007 by Time magazine.3

The Welsh Deanery has recently invested £500,000 in supplying their foundation house officers with “smartphones”. They have offered all their doctors an “iDoc”, which is essentially a smartphone with 20 medical textbooks downloaded onto it. They believe that the phone could save the NHS money by saving on continually updating print copies of textbooks. As well as ensuring all their trainees have access to the most up-to-date medical information and thus provide the best possible care for their patients.

The device is much more than just a phone. This article intends to educate surgeons around the country about its uses, functions and various invaluable medical applications. Some of its uses may seem obvious, however many are subtler. It has the potential to be an invaluable tool for the modern day surgeon.

Section snippets

General uses

The iPhone’s primary function is obviously a means of mobile telecommunication. Doctors are increasingly using their mobile phones to communicate with each other rather than then using their bleeps, because of increased convenience and speed of response.

Communication is the key for any successful surgical team. It is important that all members of the multi-disciplinary team are able to contact each other within the hospital. This is especially difficult since the introduction of the European

iPod and podcasts

The iPhone can also act as an iPod, which is a portable media player. It is possible to transfer music to the phone using certain software provided by Apple®. Photos, videos, games, contact details and podcasts can also be transferred onto the phone. The phone can also act as an external data storage device, making it possible to store presentations and other such work files.

The music and videos can be played through an in-built loudspeaker on the phone or through headphones. Alternatively the

Applications

The iPhone also acts as a personal digital assistant (PDA). Since 2008, it has become possible to download third-party “web applications”, which are programs adapted for use on the iPhone. There are currently over three billion different applications on offer for the iPhone that vary from fitness tips, currency converters to news headlines. They also vary in price, ranging from free applications up to thousands of pounds. The programmes are downloaded onto the phone, making it quick to access.

iPhone in practice

While our communication and technology within the hospital has progressed significantly over recent years, it may still seem to many to be premature to be considering the uses of iPhones and other smartphones in our day-to-day practice. However, in Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital the iPhone has been fully integrated into the hospitals daily operations. They have put in place an in-house iPhone application that provides doctors with secure access to patient information.15

At its most fundamental

Conclusion

The iPhone is increasing in popularity. It has many uses for surgeons, many of which are subtle and may be missed by the user.

There are regular podcasts that can help surgeons to keep up-to-date with the new advances in medicine and surgery. There are also many applications, which can both educate the user as well as aid in day-to-day activities in the work place.

With so many surgeons already owning iPhones or other smartphones, deaneries could encourage them to fully utilise these by offering

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    With the advent of custom designed applications, the adoption of smartphones has rapidly expanded and a number of specialties are producing innovative specific applications (e.g., orthopaedic decision support applications, off-site radiology access, infectious disease tracking, storage of reference material) (Perera, 2012). Also, smartphones have the potential to improve diagnostic skills and education of a surgeon (Dala-Ali et al., 2011). More in general, pioneering advances and increasing applications of smartphone-based devices and applications in the exponentially growing field of m-health are expected in the next decade (Vashist et al., 2014).

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