A new radiology learning tool was just released in the App Store, the iRadiology App.  This app has a catalog of over 500 radiology cases designed to help medical students and residents improve their plain film,CT, and MRI reading skills.  The cases are derived from Dr. Gillian Lieberman, who is the currently Director of Harvard Medical Student training and Associate Director of the Residency Program at Beth Israel Medical Center.  This legitimizes the content of the application.  In this review we’ll discuss the application further and also show you how to turn on the “Zoom” feature built into the iPhone that will enable you to improve the utility of this medical app.

Continue reading this entry »

In a recent study presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) researchers showed how the DICOM viewer, OsiriX, can effectively help diagnose acute appendicitis.

This doesn’t come as much of a surprise to us.  We reviewed OsiriX a few months ago and were definitely fans of this DICOM viewer then.

My only issue is with the lack of information provided in the study.  You can view the abstract of the study but the full study is currently not yet published.  Yes, the findings are interesting, but lets hold back some of the excitement until we get more information.  I’ve seen multiple medical and non medical outlets reporting on this story, but I don’t think they are looking at how the study itself was performed in detail.  The main points mentioned in the abstract were the following:

Continue reading this entry »

The Human Body 3D Anatomy App enables you to view different organ systems from a 3D perspective.  The app also offers an encyclopedia with some basic information about the organ systems.  It currently holds the #2 ranking in the paid medical apps section and costs $3.99.  This app has some of the same 3D features and graphics found in the 3D Brain app, which we recently reviewed.  Unlike the 3D Brain app that has detailed labeling of structures, this app’s largest shortcoming is the lack of labels on any of the structures present. I’ll mention more of these shortcomings in this full review.

Continue reading this entry »

Get yourself a copy of Pocket Heart (iTunes price is $5.99) and you’ll immediately be impressed by this app. Yes, the graphics and animations will be what first grabs your attention, but you’ll soon find out in this review that Pocket Heart is truly a good learning tool for cardiac anatomy and physiology.

Continue reading this entry »

While on the wards, everyone tells me reading CT images takes practice, practice, and more practice. Reading CT images is becoming crucial for gross anatomy as well, when I was a first year we definitely had to read cross sectional CT images for gross anatomy tests. This ability is put to practice on the wards early on. The look on med students faces when residents try to take them through an abnormal CT image can be absolutely comical.

When I’m being taught by residents and attendings, they always tell me in order to recognize underlying pathology, you need to first know what normal looks like. What structures should you be looking for at a particular vertebral level? What bones are surrounding certain vasculature in key areas? These are just a few of the questions I was hoping the iAnatomy app, developed by Dr. Anouk Stein, would help teach.

Continue reading this entry »