Purpose of the App Review:

1) Will the app teach me anatomic landmarks to look for while doing ultrasound guided interventional techniques?
2) Does the app keep things in perspective by showing anatomic structures with different modalities (CT/MRI)?
3) Does the app describe interventional techniques for difficult structures or procedures?

Introduction:

Ultrasound guidance for interventional techniques like chemodenervation, joint injections, and even for diagnosis is becoming ever more popular… and, of late, reimbursing quite well.

Unfortunately, many physicians focusing on sports medicine and physiatry have not been trained to use ultrasound for guidance of their interventional procedures.

MUC (Munich Ultrasound Course) is an iPad app that educates users on the use of ultrasound for the musculoskeletal system. The app provides images and videos of ultrasound views of muscles and commonly injected areas. The app was developed by The Department of Paediatric Neurology at Dr. von Hauner Children’s Hospital in Munich, Germany.

User Interface:

The app opens with regions of the body covered by the app.

When the user chooses a region of the body, the app advances giving the user a choice of muscle groups.

For each muscle group, there is an ultrasound image with the muscle highlighted.

Additionally, there are side by side videos showing appropriate probe placement and the real-time ultrasound image.

For some of the muscle groups, there are figures of cross sections, pictures of gross anatomy and MRIs. These are all highlighting the muscle and indicating other anatomic landmarks surrounding the muscle.

This is a simple app. The developers could certainly make it much more robust, adding text descriptions and more interactive features, but it is still easy to use.

Price:

  • Free

Likes:

  • Free
  • Muscle groups clearly highlighted in ultrasound images, pictures of gross anatomy, figures of MRIs
  • Side by Side ultrasound videos are very helpful for education about probe placement
  • Very few MSK ultrasound apps

Dislikes:

  • Very bare-bones app
  • Some muscle groups have MRI images, gross anatomy and videos but not all–developers should work to add all of these features to each muscle group covered in the app

Clinicians That Could Benefit From This App:

  • Physiatrists (PM&R)
  • Sports Medicine Physicians
  • Orthopedists
  • Medical students (excellent for anatomy tutorial)

Conclusion:

  • MUC (Munich Ultrasound Course) is a free iPad app that educates users about what to look for when using a MSK ultrasound.
  • The app includes most important muscle groups.
  • MUC has ultrasound images for all muscle groups and also includes MRI images, pictures of gross anatomy, and side-by-side videos of the ultrasound. It also includes ultrasound probe placement and figures of muscle groups.
  • The app is inconsistent in which features it offers for each muscle group: for some there is just an ultrasound and MRI image but for others, it has videos, gross anatomy, and other figures.
  • MUC is one of very few MSK ultrasound iOS apps. It is a must have for any PM&R or Sports Medicine Physician.

iMedicalApps recommended?

  • Yes

iTunes Link

Rating:
Overall: 4/5 Stars
User Interface:  4/5 Stars.  Easy to use, very simple.
Multimedia Coverage: 3/5 Stars. Videos, when provided, are very helpful. Interactive features of the ultrasound image would be a plus.
Price: 5/5 Stars. This app is currently free.
Real World Applicability: 4/5 Stars. This is a reference app and education app that most probably would be used often but not daily.

Compatibility: iPad
Requires: iOS 4.3 or later
Tested on: iPad 3