Category: iPhone apps

iPhone App Review: Anesthesia Drugs Fast

Review by contributing author Tech Nick Lee:

Anesthesia Drugs Fast is an app for the iPhone, iTouch and iPad. It is designed as a point-of-care utility for calculating dosages for the most common anesthesia drugs. There is no Android version at this time.

Review:

One of the tenets of a well-designed app is simplicity and elegance. This is a single view app with only one control: the weight selection. Unlike other apps where you have to navigate through different screens to get information, everything is presented on one page.  Choose the patient’s weight from 1 to 200 kilograms, and this app will immediately give you a dosage range.

 

The drug categories are induction agents, muscle relaxants, sedatives, antiemetics and basic resuscitation medications. It gives you intravenous and intramuscular dosages for some of the medications. By touching the information button you can see the formulas used for the range calculation. With just one selection control and one page view, I found I could determine the proper dose while running down a hallway. It was that easy.

 Pros:

  1. Probably the easiest to-use app I’ve seen.
  2. Simple presentation, packed with the most common drugs on a single page.
  3. Only one selection needed to get drug dosages

 Cons:

  1. An Android version is lacking

Conclusion:

This is a well-designed app for the anesthesia provider. While those new to anesthesia will find it invaluable, seasoned clinicians will find it useful for pediatrics and bariatrics. It is so easy to use you can determine the correct dosage range while running down the hallway to a code.

Feb 13, 2012 | 0 comments View Post

Handbook of Clinical Anesthesia iPhone App Review

The Handbook of Clinical Anesthesia for iOS is an app available via the Skyscape platform. The largest anesthesia “bibles” (Miller and Barash) have companion texts designed to summarize the salient details and make them portable versions of their parent text. This lends to a very portable, easily searched reference for any anesthesia provider. This format also happens to lend itself quite nicely to the iOS platform.

Review:

Navigation of this app is intuitive and easy to use. The relevent tables and graphs are not resized for the screen and are instead made scrollable. This may be good or bad depending on your eyesite and what type of information you are looking for.

Overall, if you use The Handbook of Clinical Anesthesia already and are looking for a reference you can have with you everywhere then this is the app for you. As of this writing there is no other app of this size and breadth. Might be better suited for reinforcement of the main text rather than as a stand alone reference but it is worth the somewhat large price tag for this well-regarded textbook of anesthesia. Unfortunately Baby Miller is only available electronically online and in the Kindle format.

Jan 10, 2012 | 0 comments View Post

Double Lumen iPhone App Review

Review by contributing author Tech Nick Lee:

Double Lumen is an app for the iPhone, iTouch and iPad produced by Crystal Clear Solutions. It is designed as a lung-isolation teaching tool, where the user is in control of the bronchoscope and needs to successfully deploy a double lumen tube (DLT) or a bronchial blocker. There is no Android version.

Review:

The app’s layout design is simple and easy to understand.  I found myself using it without the need for instructions the moment I opened it. Any questions I had were answered by using it a few times. The main menu has three components: instructions, teaching and simulations.

The teaching mode goes over a quick bronchscopy exam, labeling each bronchus.  The rest of the teaching section shows a correctly and incorrectly placed DLT.


 

The interactive section at the time of this review presents 3 bronchial blocker and 15 double-lumen tube simulations.  Each simulation follows the same simple script: the user is taken down the tracheal lumen of a left DLT tube and offered four choices: pull the tube back, push the tube further in, move the scope to the other lumen or confirm that position is adequate.

By selecting one of the first three choices, the app calls a video reflecting the user’s choice, giving the appearance that the operator is manipulating a real bronchoscope.  Once the virtual brochoscope is moved or the tube is manipulated a still image appears, and the user gets to choose from one of the four choices again until the position is correct.   The app will playfully approve or disapprove with the user’s assessment of the position.

 

The library of images seems to be quite substantial with little duplication.  One can view the app in portrait or landscape mode on the iPhone; one can only view image in portrait mode on the iPad.  The video and still images are taken from a real bronchoscope, and for the most part are clear and easy to understand.  With 18 simulations the app seems to present almost every situation one could face while placing a true DLT or blocker.

Highlights:

  • Easy to use with a very short learning curve.
  • Clear image, even on the iPad.
  • A vast repository of images, videos and simulations covering most situations one will encounter during a real exam.

 

Areas for improvement:

  • A small number of the videos have a lower resolution than the rest.  While this is not a problem, it is noticeable.
  • The images do not fully make use of the screen size on the iPad.
  • While one can control the bronchoscope, the choices are limited.  One might want to move the scope around to inspect the bronchi without moving it to the other port.  Perhaps there can be an advanced mode offering more flexibility.
  • An Android version is lacking.

 

Conclusion:

There is a dearth of anesthesia simulation apps; however, this one is a good start. Overall, this is an excellent, well designed app for the thoracic subspecialty of anesthesia, where exposure to as many bronchoscopy exams is the key for mastery.

 

Dec 11, 2011 | 0 comments View Post

Pedi Safe iPhone App Review

Pedisafe is a an app available for the iOS and android operating systems. It is designed as a quick reference for the occasional pediatric practitioner in need of a way to look up weight based drug dosing.

Review:

The beauty of this app is its aesthetic and ease of navigation. The first screen asks you choose a color coded patient weight  in either pounds or kilograms:

The subsequent screen calculates drug dosing, age-specific equipment choices as well as vital signs:

The available weight specific categories are useful: Normal Vital Signs, Airway Equipment, Pretreatment Medications, Induction Medications, Paralytic Medications, Sedation Maintenance, Fluid Resuscitation, Cardiovascular Support and Cardiac Resuscitation.

The app screens flow seamlessly and overall a well designed useful app.

Some flaws worth mentioning

  • The app probably included too much info and in a pinch might be hard to look something up as quickly as needed.
  • Pretreatment meds only include Vecuronium, Lidocaine and Fentanyl.  This section needs WAY more meds (i.e. IM Ketamine, PO Versed etc.)
  • Sedation Maintenance includes Vecuronium !!!  I suppose this should include a disclaimer for intubated patients only.
  • Postoperative pain management pretty much ignored.  I would like to see PR Acetaminophen, Morphine, Hydromorphone doses amongst others.
Conclusion:
Overall an excellent, well designed app minus same major omissions which will hopefully be corrected in the next version.

 

Pedisafe is an app available for ios and android operating systems ($0.99)

Ipad app available as well here.

Dec 03, 2011 | 0 comments View Post

Iphone Apps For Anesthesia Providers (and Critical Care and OB)

Airstrip Technologies out of San Antonio,TX recently unveiled a remote monitoring app for the iPhone and many other portable and non portable devices:

From the company website:

AirStrip Technologies, a pioneer in mobile medical software applications, today announced that it has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance to market the AirStrip Remote Patient Monitoring solution (RPM), including AirStrip RPM CRITICAL CARE and AirStrip RPM CARDIOLOGY.

With FDA clearance in place, AirStrip now extends its virtual real time remote patient monitoring technology to a broad array of acute patient clinical settings, which include the intensive care unit, the emergency department, the operating room, the neonatal ICU, and virtually any other care environment.

The AirStrip RPM solution allows clinicians unprecedented remote access to critical patient data in virtual real time. Medical professionals will use their smartphones to see vital signs, critical waveform data and other clinical information, which is sent directly from the hospital and can be accessed from virtually anywhere a cell-phone or other wireless connection is available.


Notice the lack of an anesthesia-related uses in the marketing materials?  Me too.  My guess is that the idea of remote monitoring in the OR is still a ways off.  The app is much more suited to the critical care provider monitoring from afar.  The OB app which can display FHR tracings also seems the most immediately useful.  The cost basis for implementation is not discussed and I fear too high to retrofit most ICUs, ORs and/or L&D suites.  Maybe if they can demonstrate a cost savings in personnel (i.e. crnas) then perhaps they may have at viable product.  :)

Sep 25, 2010 | 0 comments View Post

Iphone Apps For Anesthesia Providers (Part 3)


As this blog grows in readership I have been getting repeated requests to evaluate and/or promote iPhone applications as they are developed for the iPhone-wielding gas-passer.

A large majority of the apps are case logs and billing/cpt references. I personally have no use for such an app and have not the time or the coinage to evaluate them. I have previously highlighted iAnesthesia: Case logs since it was the first of its kind. I also found the SonoAccess app to be a really useful Regional Anesthesia app.
I’ve decided to make myself useful and list some of what is out there with a brief review if I’ve used them. Feel free to add thoughts/additions/delusions of grandeur in the comments section.
References:
  • SonoAccess-excellent reference for ultrasound guided regional anesthesia. Contains links to videos, still images and cases. [Free]
  • Skyscape-Baby Barash, Oxford Handbook, Omoigui’s Anesthesia Drug Guide [$39.95-$69.95]
  • AnestAssist PK/PD-tool used for understanding and visualizing the pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and interactions of commonly used anesthetic drugs. [$19.95]
  • Medscape-drug database, interaction checker, CME on your iPhone! [Free]
  • Epocrates-same as above [Free]
Coding/Billing/Case Logs:
  • Gas Coder CPT database with 2009 Croswalk database [$149.99]
  • A-Units Neat little app if you do your own billing. Database of CPT codes referenced with the ASA Relative Value Guide. [$74.99]
Anything missing? Feel free to add in comments.

Sep 11, 2009 | 1 comment View Post

Iphone Apps For Anesthesia Providers (cont.)


And the hits keep coming. This app from Sonosite wins the most useful iPhone app for anesthesia providers award.

Sonosite has done us a huge favor here. While all the info is available elsewhere on the internet, this is real nice to have in one convenient iPhone app. The app “SonoAccess” is not just for Anesthesia providers but who cares about the other guys. In it you’ll find Ultrasound demos for regional nerve blocks, still pics and some useful info regarding reimbursement. I’m quite impressed. They do collect some personal info in order to get into the app and there is a clear slant towards SonoSite products but hey, for a free app a little advertising is acceptable….kinda like blogs and google ads..ahem.
Check it out here.

Jun 27, 2009 | 0 comments View Post

Iphone Apps For Anesthesia Providers

The iPhone is in my humble opinion the greatest gadget ever. It’s essentially a handheld computer that make phone calls.

Anesthesia providers now have an iPhone app to call their own:
iAnesthesia: Case Logs is a an app designed for easy caseload tracking. From perusing the website it appears pretty robust for those who need this sort of thing. Take a gander if you will.   What apps do you use?  Comment below.

Mar 02, 2009 | 2 comments View Post