There are almost 1 million apps. Here are 10 you should use.

Chances are, if you’re reading this, you own a smartphone. A December survey by EPG Health Media found nine in 10 U.S. health care professionals possess a smartphone, while a spring 2012 Manhattan Research report forecast that 81 percent of U.S. physicians have one of the gadgets.

And you’re probably not just using it to play Angry Birds Star Wars. According to Juniper Research projections, some 44 million health care-related apps were downloaded worldwide last year. Estimates vary, but industry-watchers believe there are some 40,000 medical or health care apps available on Apple or Android stores out of a total app population that should reach 1 million by the end of this year.

That’s a lot of apps. But many of the ones supposedly related to health care are really on the consumer end of things (think “pregnancy diet tips,” not “diagnostic X-ray reader.”) A recent mobile health news report found that only 75 or 76 apps are truly considered “medical devices” in that they’re regulated by the Food and Drug Administration.

Still, for medical imaging professionals – radiologists, technicians, informaticists, administrators, and the like – finding a good, useful app amidst all the store-cluttering mediocrity can be a daunting task. To help you out, DOTmed News spoke with a couple experts in the field, gathering suggestions for useful apps they use themselves or heard about from talks with their colleagues. What follows are the recommendations we received.

Diagnostic reading:
Mobile MIM
Company: MIM Software Inc.
Cost: Free (for the app)
Version: 3.0.6
Last updated: Sept. 24, 2012
Works on: iPad, iPhone, iPod touch

Almost two years ago, Mobile MIM made a bit of history, becoming the first app ever cleared by the Food and Drug Administration for diagnostic image reading on a mobile device. It wasn’t always so rosy for the product. In 2008, it was pulled off the App Store site after a request by the FDA. But MIM Software persevered, and after three 510(k) applications, got clearance for the software in February 2011. In its original OK, the FDA approved the use of the app for diagnostic reads of MRI, CT and PET scans only if no workstations were accessible. In December of 2011, the indication was then expanded to include X-ray and ultrasound. In any case, all’s well that ends well. As of Nov. 2012, MIM Software said it has had more than 250,000 downloads of the app. (The app is free but you need to be part of MIM Cloud or use a MIM workstation 5.1 to get the most out of it.)


Non-diagnostic viewing:
OsiriX HD
Company: Pixmeo Sarl
Cost: $29.99
Current version: 3.5.2
Last update: Oct. 24, 2012
Works on: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch

An iOS version of Swiss firm Pixmeo Sarl’s popular DICOM image-viewer, OsiriX HD works on the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, allowing zooming, panning and window leveling of X-rays and other images. Unlike its PC workstation-based parent OsirisMD, the OsiriX is not cleared by the FDA for primary diagnostic reading. But it’s also an order of magnitude cheaper. (OsirisMD will run you a cool $500.) “I use OsiriX when looking at something on my iPad,” Janice Honeyman-Buck, the editor of the Journal of Digital Imaging, a peer-reviewed imaging informatics journal put out by the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine, told DOTmed News.

Productivity:
PDF Reader Pro
Company: Yuyao Mobile Software Inc.
Cost: $5.99
Version: 3.0.1
Last updated: Dec. 18, 2012
Works on: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch

IAnnotate PDF
Company: Branchfire Inc.
Cost: $9.99
Version: 2.4
Updated: Nov. 30, 2012
Works on: iPad, Android tablet

Two of a slew of PDF readers available for iOS and Android devices, PDF Reader Pro and iAnnotate let you read, highlight and make notes on PDFs on the go. The latest version of iAnnotate also lets you open Microsoft Word and PowerPoint files. PDF readers might not seem like technological marvels, but they’re essential, especially for medical professionals and academics. “If you’re reading journal articles, you can just download them and read them,” Honeyman-Buck said. Or as Dr. Michael Richardson put it in his list of essential apps for radiologists recently published in the American Journal of Roentgenology, “A good PDF reader or manager should be on everyone’s short list of apps.” (Richardson, incidentally, recommends GoodReader.)

Reference:
Eponyms
Company: Pascal Pfiffner
Cost: $1.99 (Student version: free)
Version: 1.4.2
Late updated: Dec. 18, 2012
Works on: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch

Ever wonder what Bazin’s disease is? (Leg ulcers usually on women, once thought to be caused only by tuberculosis.) What about Adamson’s fringe? (The bottom third of a strand of hair.) These are examples of eponyms, or terms named after somebody. Definitions for these and more can be found in the fittingly named Eponyms, an app that lets providers, residents and students look up the meaning of around 1,700 eponymous medical terms. The company also makes a full-feature version that’s free for students.

MicroMedx
Company: Truven Health Analytics (formerly Thomson Reuters)
Cost: Free
Version: 1.44
Last updated: Dec. 17, 2012
Works on: iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Android

From ACE Inhibitor to Zanaflex, Truven Health’s free app gives comprehensive, up-to-date information on drugs, listing side effects and even separate FDA-labeled and off-label indications. “It’s a quick and easy way to (look up drug effects),” Honeyman-Buck said, “so you don’t have to pick up a physician’s desk reference which weighs a ton and probably is outdated.” MicroMedx also makes a more detailed drug-interaction app and another on IV compatibility, both of which retail for $9.99.

Calculate
Company: QxMD Software Inc.
Cost: Free
Version: 2.9.3
Last updated: Oct. 15, 2012
Works on: iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry and Android

A free clinical calculator and decision support tool that helps doctors determine prognosis, reckon doses for different agents (like chemotherapy drugs), figure out ideal body weight and BMI, and estimate due date and gestation age. “It calculates formulas that doctors need,” Honeyman-Buck said.

MonsterAnatomy
Company: Monster Minds Media SAS
Cost: 18.99
Version: Varies
Last updated: Varies
OS: iPhone and iPad

Developed at a French hospital’s imaging department, Monster Anatomy is an interactive atlas of MRI images that’s sold in two parts: one for lower, the other for upper limbs, each costing $18.99. Monster Anatomy HD-Lower Limb consists of 384 contiguous MRI slices, while its upper limb counterpart has 502 contiguous slices. In his recent AJR article, Richardson called these imaging packs “two of the most useful medical apps that I own.” Monster Minds also distributes a free version of the lower limb with 82 knee slices called Monster Anatomy Lite - Knee.

Viewbox
Company: Viewbox Holdings LLC
Cost: $2.99
Version: 1.1
Last updated: March 6, 2012
Works on: iPad

Stanford University made headlines two years ago when it announced all incoming first year medical students would be given an iPad. For the 2012-2013 academic year, the Palo Alto, Calif.-based university changed its practice somewhat, and is now giving a stipend to buy the tablets. Still, the top-tier university’s commitment to tablets makes sense, and partly that’s because students and residents can be helped with their educational needs by teaching apps like Viewbox, a program that lets learners organize, search, view and share medical images for educational purposes.

Journals and Meetings:
RSNA Suite
Cost: (The apps are generally free, but you need to subscribe to the journals to access them)
Version: Varies
Last updated: Varies
Works on: iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Android

The Radiological Society of North America has made a hard push for mobile. At its November 2012 meeting in Chicago, the RSNA even featured a Mobile Connect lounge where staff gave one-on-one help to members to get programs loaded onto their devices. The society offers several apps: its high-level RSNA Mobile Connect, which lets you plan the annual RSNA meeting and also gives you access to all its publications; separate apps for its peer-reviewed journals, Radiology and RadioGraphics; and RSNA News, its news service.

Journal of Digital Imaging
Company: Springer Science +
Business Media, LLC
Cost: Free (for now)
Version: 1.0
Last updated: Jan. 2, 2013
Works on: iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Android

Fittingly, starting this year, the Journal of Digital Imaging, the peer-reviewed journal put out by the Society of Imaging Informatics, can now be read on your mobile phone. Best of all, the journal’s app is free through the end of March. “It’s open to everybody,” Honeyman-Buck, the journal’s editor, said. If you’re curious, SIIM itself doesn’t have an app yet, but Honeyman-Buck said it’s something they’re working on. “I’m hoping we’ll have one out by our annual meeting in June,” she said.

Shameless plug:DOTmed’s favorite app can be found on the app store, search term: DOTmed