Comments on: iPad could support “Handwriting Keyboard” – A requirement for medical point of care use in health care

By: Palm WebOS tablet's digital pen will be appealing for healthcare professionals who prefer to handwrite notes | iMedicalApps

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 18:43:18 +0000

[...] will have a capacitive screen that recognizes a digital pen. So what? That’s nothing new. The Pogo Stick on the iPad can do the same thing. However, it appears Palm will be having handwriting recognition built in, [...]

By: Test driving the iPad in the operating room « A few thoughts from a tumor surgeon

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 03:53:55 +0000

[...] was somewhat of a surprise since, as many people have noticed (see our review of Pogo Sketch), using an iPhone touch screen with gloves is very difficult at best, and impossible if one is [...]

By: Test driving the iPad in the Operating Room | iMedicalApps

Test driving the iPad in the Operating Room | iMedicalApps — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 06:11:58 +0000

[...] was somewhat of a surprise since, as many people have noticed (see our story of the Pogo Sketch), using an iPhone’s screen with gloves is difficult, and nearly impossible if one is double [...]

By: iAnnotate PDF iPad App Review | iMedicalApps

iAnnotate PDF iPad App Review | iMedicalApps — Tue, 11 May 2010 15:55:41 +0000

[...] Writing: As you can see by the writing skills showcased, you probably want to use a Pogo stick – stylus for the iPad – if you really want to use this feature. Handwriting on the [...]

By: Medical and Healthcare professionals opinions of the iPad | iMedicalApps

Medical and Healthcare professionals opinions of the iPad | iMedicalApps — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 17:50:04 +0000

[...] to the idea of medical e-books or radiology viewing on the iPad. We’ve also made clear that handwriting software for the iPad is a necessity if broad implementation in the medical field is a [...]

By: iPad Accessories for medical professionals | iMedicalApps

iPad Accessories for medical professionals | iMedicalApps — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 19:12:52 +0000

[...] this, a stylus is needed. Luckily, there’s already one available for the iPhone, called the Pogo Sketch. Since the iPhone and iPad both have similar capacitive touch screens, this stylus should work [...]

By: The Apple iPad and Electronic Medical Records – Could it Replace the Physician’s Clipboard? | iMedicalApps

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:10:55 +0000

[...] that usefulness largely rests on the ability to write on the iPad. As we’ve discussed previously, handwriting functionality does appear to be coming to the iPad. But just having it isn’t enough. It has to really good. As [...]

By: iPad medical textbooks (e-books) on the way, key partnerships announced: Why the Healthcare community should be excited | iMedicalApps

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 06:20:16 +0000

[...] Now if the developers can somehow add the ability to highlight and annotate using the rumored handwriting keyboard….but that might be too much to [...]

By: Apple iPad in Healthcare: Pros and Cons « ScienceRoll

Apple iPad in Healthcare: Pros and Cons « ScienceRoll — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 18:45:05 +0000

[...] The iPad has a capacitive touch screen on which gloves won’t work. [...]

By: Iltifat Husain

Iltifat Husain — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 17:18:29 +0000

Yea, definitely agree with the last point, thats why at the beginning I mentioned that if you’re gloved up, you probably don’t want to use your iPhone anyways.

Whats key though is the possible handwriting keyboard they might build into the iPad OS. I know there are apps that do this, but the lack of built in functionality prevents you from using it within more complex applications. If they bring this to the iPhone device I think many providers would appreciate it, would be nice for writing scripts using care360 and other eprescribing methods.

Also, I’m going to look into this more for a future post, but in terms of accuracy capacitive screens aren’t technically “more accurate”. However, they are still relatively new technology, and apparently Apple’s screens are extremely accurate compared to its competitors.

By: StatCoder.com

StatCoder.com — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 16:30:15 +0000

I believe that resistive screens (the old style) are more accurate, however, they require some pressure so that the flicking and swiping gestures don’t work. I’m wondering exactly how accurate a stylus would be on a capacitive screen. I believe that when you go to an Apple Store, they do the transaction on an iPod Touch with a card-reader sled and have you sign with something that looks like a large Q-tip with a soft tip – not a pointed stylus.

I’m wondering what situation would make it good to be using a touch pad with a gloved hand. Presumably, you have a glove on because you have some exposure to bodily fluids so whatever surface you are touching will become contaminated, won’t it? It almost seems like it would be better to cover your iphone with a disposable wrapper if necessary than to turn your smartphone into a fomite.

By: Iltifat Husain

Iltifat Husain — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 08:18:50 +0000

Mark,

Good question. This is actually a topic we should consider turning into a post so our medical readers have a better idea of the difference between a capacitive touch screen and traditional (“resistive”) touch screens.

The quick difference is that resistive touch screens require physical contact to register touch (e.g. using a plastic stylus), while the capacitive screen uses the conductivity of your finger. Thats why it won’t work when you are gloved up in the hospital/clinic. The reason apple is using the capacitive touch screen is because they are more accurate, with the obvious benefit of being able to use your fingers w/o requiring any sort of pressure on the screen.

This will be a good topic to discuss in detail in the future, thanks for the question!

By: mark

mark — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 05:11:21 +0000

Not really sure why a stylus wouldn’t work for the iPad? Could you explain what a “capacitive” touchscreen is and why Apple would use it instead of a screen that would allow you to use gloves or a stylus, as PDAs of the past could?