FDA issues an inquiry letter to mobile medical app uChek urine analyzer

uChek by Biosense Technologies Pvt is a mobile medical app for the iPhone. Originally designed and used in India, Dr Abhishek Sen from the Biosense team said, "If it can work in India, it can work anywhere"

uChek urine analyzer is designed to use the iPhone camera to read urine test strips and analyze the urine for glucose, urobilinogen, pH, ketone, blood, protein, bilirubin, nitrite, leukocyte, and specific gravity.

According to the FDA: The uChek Urine analyzer appears to meet the definition of a device as that term is defined in section 201(h) of the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act.

The FDA recently issued an inquiry letter to Biosense Technologies Private Limited, saying:

We have conducted a review of our files, and have been unable to identify any Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance number for the uChek Urine analyzer. We request that you provide us with the FDA clearance number for the uChek Urine analyzer. If you do not believe that you are required to obtain FDA clearance for the uChek Urine analyzer, please provide us with the basis for that determination. Please provide the requested information within thirty (30) business days.

This may be the first example of the FDA issuing a letter regarding a mobile medical app/device. Will we see other examples in 2013?

Focusing on the Clinician With a Camera

You can listen to my ReachMD Mobile Medical Minute segment here.

You have a powerful clinical tool built right into your phone: the camera function. Dr. Joseph Kim, author of the blog MedicalSmartphones.com, tells you how you can begin to build a useful, instructive, shareable clinical image library— and start getting the most out of your smartphone's camera.

Motorola Droid X appears on the Verizon website

Are you excited about the Droid X?  It's a large phone, but you also get a larger screen. Do you really need 4.3" of screen space?

The Motorola Droid X will have HDMI output and it will capture 720p video. This will truly be a multimedia smartphone. So, if you're looking for a large Android smartphone that also can be used as a robust digital camera/camcorder, then maybe the Droid X will be the one for you. You can now learn more about the Droid X on the Verizon Wireless website.

http://phones.verizonwireless.com/droid/x/

Motorola MILESTONE™ XT720

Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) today announced MILESTONE™ XT720, one of the world’s slimmest 8 Megapixel Android™ smartphones and the first to have a Xenon Flash. MILESTONE XT720 breaks new ground for Android smartphones by offering an 8 megapixel camera with Xenon flash, 10x digital zoom, and a 720p HD camcorder. It allows users to not only capture, view and share high quality photos and videos, but also helps make them look better than ever.

Designed For Mobile Internet
MILESTONE™ XT720 is designed to deliver high speed web-browsing and it has the capacity to support up to eight open browser windows. The huge 3.7 inch, WVGA (480X854) display shows full page websites, videos, games, or photos in glorious detail.

Smartphone App Enhances Employers’ Ability to Track Employees

This is a guest post by by Greg Bartlett. Contact me if you'd like to submit an article. 

Smartphone App Enhances Employers’ Ability to Track Employees

If you're employed by a hospital or practice that's issued you a smartphone, chances are your HR department is concerned about what you do and do not view with its internet browsing capabilities. Even the most permissive of firms are at least a little curious if company property is being used as a distraction, so many are resorting to tracking software like Mobile Spy 4.0.

Developed by Retina-X Studios, Mobile Spy is an app for Blackberry-other versions coming eventually-that allows employers to monitor nearly every conceivable action on their employee's company-issued smartphones. Previous versions of the app logged keystrokes, internet browsing histories, and of course all call records.

The 4.0 iteration includes a variety of additional-and more intrusive-features. Employers may now access full contact lists, event calendars, and memos stored on the smartphone's memory. They can also preview any email sent to or from the device, as well as any picture taken with the onboard camera.

LookTel: A Revolutionary New App for the Visually Impaired

This is a guest post by by Greg Bartlett. Contact me if you'd like to submit an article.

On March 24th, the CTIA E-Tech Awards in Las Vegas, Nevada gave first place in the healthcare category to LookTel, an amazing new smartphone app that employs smart video, artificial intelligence, and GPS tracking to provide a tremendous service to the visually impaired. The app acts as an extra set of eyes for the user, using the smartphone’s camera to identify common items and even read basic text.

The user can hold his or her smartphone in front of a common item indistinguishable to the visually impaired, such as a five dollar bill, and the application will run an advanced image-recognition codec to identify the object and name it out loud with the phone’s speaker. The app comes pre-programmed with plenty of items, and users can train it to recognize even more particular items they interact with on a daily basis.

Smartphone cameras in the hospital

Some of the strangest medical photos have been captured using smartphones in the hospital. If you're a U.S. physician, you've probably joined Sermo and you know what I'm talking about. Now that so many health care professionals and students carry smartphones, we have cameras everywhere! So, if you're in the ICU and you see a very strange phenomenon, then you can capture that image immediately. Or, if you're in the ER (this is where some of the strangest photos come from), then you can quickly capture something using your smartphone.

Now, we can't ignore the issues surrounding patient confidentiality. Does your hospital have a policy about taking photos of patients? There are many reasons why you may want to photograph a rash or lesion. However, it's critical to ensure that you're respecting patient privacy and confidentiality at all times.

NeoReader, Tag Reader, and QR codes

If your smartphone has a built-in camera, have you tried NeoReader or Microsoft Tag Reader? It's a great little app that allows you to scan a square matrix code (also known as a QR-code, Quick Resonse code, a 2-D bar code, and more). After you scan this code, your phone will open a web browser so that you can have access to additional information.

These types of QR readers will become ubiquitous in the near future. You won't be limited to Android smartphones. NeoReader is currently available for smartphones running BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, and also for many non-smartphones. Microsoft Tag Reader is also currently available for many different types of smartphones and standard phones that have built-in cameras.

Have you tried using these mobile QR code readers? What's been your experience?

iPhone 4G rumors

There are growing rumors regarding the next generation iPhone. I will not be surprised if it's called the Apple iPhone 4G. By then, we may be using a different system and the distinction between CDMA vs. GSM may not be relevant. Let's wait to see how networks transition from 3G to 4G and UMTS.

So, here are some of the rumors floating around:

• 64 GB or storage space (not surprising, considering the iPod touch already comes with 64 GB)
• 5 MP camera. Wow! Let's hope we see an LED flash.
• Smaller screen? Really? Instead of a 3.5" screen, we may see a 2.8" screen. I think that makes sense. 
• Available on Verizon Wireless. Well, we had been hearing about that for a while, but let's hope it's available on multiple networks. Why limit yourself to a single carrier? That simply doesn't make sense and I think Android will move ahead because of the way it's currently positioned.

I guess Apple must not have any plans to release a thicker version of an "iPhone Pro" and include a hardware slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Personally, I think that would attract many business users who rely on buttons for typing. Apple should offer both an iPhone 4G and an iPhone "Pro" 4G. Then again, maybe by the time the 4G comes out, we'll be so accustomed to on-screen typing that we won't want to go back to a hardware keyboard.

Using your phone camera in the clinical setting

If your mobile phone has a built-in camera, do you use it in the clinical setting? When I was a medical student, there were so many times I wished I had a camera so that I could take a picture of a rash or another strange lesion.

There are so many opportunities to take pictures (or even videos) when you're seeing patients, but is this appropriate? It certainly isn't appropriate if you don't have the patient's permission. But what if the patient is unable to give you permission? What if the patient is intubated and sedated in the ICU? What if the patient is not medically competent to make decisions?

A digital photo can also be entered into the medical record and dermatologists rely on digital cameras all the time to track the progress of moles and other lesions that may turn malignant. If you're a student or you're in training, you may want to leverage those opportunities where you can take a photo and then make a presentation in a group setting.

Samsung Omnia II is now available

The Samsung Omnia II is now on Verizon Wireless. This smartphone features a unique touch-screen typing experience called Swype technology. No need to lift your finger off the screen as you type. The AMOLED display should improve battery life as well. Now if you're looking for a smartphone that has a nice digital camera, how does 5 MP sound? You'll get a flash as well! (I really miss having an LED flash on my phone because it becomes a great flashlight when you're in the dark).

This phone is not a slider, so you won't see any type of hardware QWERTY keyboard. However, maybe the hardware QWERTY keyboard will become obsolete as smartphones rely on touch-screen input.

Smartphone as a memory card reader

I was in the hospital the other day because we now have a new addition to our family (see: Picture of new baby Kim).

I had taken some photos and videos using our digital camera, but I left the memory card reader at home. I wanted to transfer the pictures from the microSD card to her Apple MacBook Pro, but she has the older model that lacks an internal SD card reader. So what did I do? Well, I had a USB to mini-USB cable (I always carry one of these since you never know when you have to tether). I pulled out my HTC Touch Pro2 and swapped out the microSD card. Then, I placed the USB connection mode to "Disk Drive" mode. The microSD card in my smartphone appeared as a removable drive on her Mac. Voila!

Here are a few of my tips/suggestions if you use a digital camera:

• Always carry a USB memory card reader in your camera bag.
• If your digital camera uses an SD card, consider using a microSD card (with an SD adapter). You'll have more flexibility with that memory card.
  
• Always carry a USB connecting cable for your smartphone (and/or camera) in your camera bag.
  

Spy smartphone

I'm a James Bond fan. I don't own all the 007 movies, but I own several. In the latest James Bond movie Quantum of Solace, we see James Bond (played by Daniel Craig) using his Sony Ericsson C902 Cyber-shot camera phone to take pictures of thugs in a large, dark auditorium. I want to know how he did that with no flash. Of course, the pictures were quite blurry in the movie, so that made it seem realistic (considering modern smartphone capabilities). However, I wouldn't be surprised if we see much more powerful cameras in future smartphones. Spies like James Bond will have very sophisticated gadgets in the near future.

Could you use your smartphone camera to spy on someone? Perhaps you know of someone who is an amateur computer spy. What if someone used a phone camera to take a photo of your driver's license when you're in line at the grocery store? Could he/she use this information to gain access to your personal information? What if someone took a picture of your credit card? When we're in public, we see so many people using a mobile phone. Should we be paranoid that they might be spying on us?

We live in a world where we're probably surrounded by computer hackers and spies. If you turn on the news, you'll hear of many stories of data breaches and identity theft. You may have an automated computer spy on your computer (either in the form of a virus or spyware). We must be vigilant and we must frequently change our computer passwords. Never share your password with anyone. Speaking of passwords, my Facebook account was hacked a few months ago. I checked all my computers to see if I could find some type of computer spy. Nothing ever came up.

Next iPhone

Details of the next Apple iPhone are starting to appear everywhere. Are you excited? Do you need an excuse to upgrade? Blame your dying battery. Since the iPhone doesn't have a battery that's easy to change, you can say that your battery is dying and that it's simply easier to upgrade than to send it to Apple for a new battery. So what exactly are these specs? Faster processor, more RAM, and a better camera. What more were you expecting? Maybe we'll see this version on the Verizon Wireless network.