3D4Medical are renowned for producing some of the most visually appealing and informative medical apps for the iPad and iPhone. They have traditionally focused on 3dimensional anatomy resources such as Essential Anatomy and the NOVA series which are aimed at medical professionals and designed for use in education. The latest release from 3D4Medical predominantly focuses on radiology which is a departure from the norm. Radiology – Head is a neuroanatomy and neuroradiology resource designed for radiologists, neurologists, neurosurgeons, medical students and other healthcare professionals who come into contact with neuroradiology. Read on to find out if Radiology – Head can match other renowned neuroradiology resources such as Neurorad.
Opening the app presents the user with an attractive IOS7 themed interface with the users attention drawn to the highly detailed radiograph in the centre of the screen.
There are a range of different imaging modalities to choose from which form 170 images in 3 planes with 2 scan types for each plane (a third for the Axial plane) and anatomical slices for each plane. Each scan is of a high resolution
•MRI T1 (Spin-Echo T1-weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging)
•MRI T2 (Turbo Spin Echo T2-weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging)
•FLAIR – (Turbo Inversion Recovery-Magnitude Reconstruction)
•Anatomical (Axial, Coronal and Sagittal slices of the head and brain)
[according to 3D4Medical] Coming soon:
•CT – (computerized tomography)
The user can simply scroll through the scans as if at a PACS station using their finger on the model of the head in the corner. It is a shame you can’t scroll through the slices on the image itself however there are options to zoom and pan the image using two and three finger swipes respectively.
There is also the option of highlighting various neuroanatomical structures using colour by tapping on the structures on the right hand side. This list is reasonable however not as detailed as we would like. For eg there is just a single tab for cranial nerves without highlighting which particular one is being highlighted. The absence of fine anatomical detail is a barrier to use in education however the gross anatomy is accurate and clearly highlighted. The use of colour (first seen in RealWorld Orthopedics) is without a shadow of a doubt an incredibly powerful learning tool.
One particular frustration is the number of key missing slices at each extreme eg superior/inferior eg one cannot scroll inferior to the cerebellum in a axial view. This means there is a reasonable amount of important neuroradiology/anatomy missing. I am sure a simple update would be able to add these extra slices.
Despite some of the drawbacks, one point is clear . Combining colour superimposed on top of radiology images is essential for improved understanding and recognition. Radiology – Head does this very well and helps improve neuroanatomy understanding, a traditionally challenging topic.
Price:
$9.99
Likes:
- Range of different radiological scan modalities eg T1/T2/FLAIR
- High resolution scans
- Colour anatomy superimposed on radiograph images
Dislikes/Updates I’d Like To See
- More anatomical slices
- Greater anatomical detail
Overall:
- Radiology – Head is a fine example of a neuroradiology app which has been finished to an extremely high standard. The use of colour superimposed on radiology images is a technique which iMedicalApps thinks should be adopted for all radiology education apps.
iTunes Link
Rating: (1 to 5 stars): 4/5
- User Interface: 4/5
- Multimedia usage: 4/5
- Price: 3/5
- Real world applicability: 4/5
