Butterfly iQ: Pocket-Sized Ultrasound for Under $2500

Image From Butterfly Network I had the good fortune of being able to test-drive an amazing new product called the Butterfly iQ . It is an ultra-compact, pocket-sized, portable ultrasound device for under $2500 when most ultrasound machines cost tens of thousands of dollars. The entire ultrasound technology is built into the handheld body itself. Real-time images are viewed on a smartphone via a wired connection. This one ultrasound can be used to image the entire body! The cost of ultraso…

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Turn Apple AirPods Into Hearing Aids with iOS12 using iPhone

AirPods available on Amazon Given how pervasive iPhones  and AirPods are, Apple has taken a committed step to helping those who have difficulty with hearing things clearly. With its new upcoming iOS12 software update later this year, individuals who own both an iPhone and AirPods will be able to turn the AirPods into a hearing amplification device through its new Live Listen feature. Please note that the title of this blog article is a bit of a misnomer. Technically, this would not be…

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60/60 Rule to Avoid Hearing Loss Due to Loud Music

It is a well-known fact that permanent hearing loss can result from listening to loud music for prolonged periods of time. With the advent of portable music players, earbuds/headphones, and long-lasting battery life, people are losing their hearing at younger and younger ages compared to prior generations. In order to save your hearing from such noise-induced damage, their are two factors that must be considered: How LOUD the Music The louder the music, the higher risk of hearing loss. …

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Fauquier ENT Smartphone App

Given the popularity of our blog , videos , and website articles , we have created a smartphone app for easy access to all our informational online materials. Also included in the app is a Fauquier Health System physician directory as well as online appointment request form . The app is available for free on both Android and iPhones on Google Play and App Store respectively. The landing page address for links to both can be found here . Check it out! Otherwise, you can go straig…

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ENT Question Bank iPhone App for Physicians and Residents

The AAO-HNS has released a nifty iPhone app that contains 400+ Q&A to test one's knowledge in the field of otolaryngology. Called AcademyQ , it is free for 10 sample questions, but $49.99 to access the entire question bank. Although anybody can download the app ( link to app store), it's really meant for busy ENT surgeons. This app may be worthwhile to quiz oneself on esoteric ENT trivia in between surgical cases and patient office visits where one might have a minute or two to …

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Bracelet that Measures Your Sun Exposure

June is being worn on this model's wrist. At the CES 2014 , an interesting bracelet made an appearance that purportedly is able to measure sun intensity in real time and monitor total daily sun exposure. Even better, it is able to provide sun protection advice via smartphone app based on your habits and skin type, get notifications when you need to apply SPF, wear a hat, or put on sunglasses… Made by Netatmo , the bracelet is called " June " and may be beneficial for those i…

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iPhone App to Objectively Measure Vocal Quality (f0, shimmer, jitter, etc)

For the inner geek in all singers and other professional voice users, you can now download onto your iPhone an advanced voice analysis program that provides objective measures of vocal quality similar to what is obtained in a professional voice laboratory. Called OperaVox , preliminary studies have shown good reliability compared to KayPentax Multidimensional Voice Program (f0, shimmer, jitter). Noise to harmonic ratio showed less reliability. Retest reliability was also fairly consistent i…

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ENT Doctor iPhone App Games

This was bound to happen sooner or later… thanks to  @hobsonent who brought this to my attention. This Nose Doctor iPhone app game basically is to try and remove nasal hair as well as boogers from different characters' noses using different instruments. Another iPhone app game is Ear Doctor  which deals more with ear problems (obviously). Although these iPhone apps makes a game out of it, do ENT doctors actually professionally remove boogers, earwax , and nasal hair? We do… Regula…

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Accurate Hearing Testing Using an iPhone

There is an iPhone app called " EarTrumpet " that apparently can provide accurate hearing testing... almost as good as a professionally administered test ( conventional audiometry ) and certainly as good (if not better) than medical-quality automated testing machines (ie Otogram ). Created with the assistance of the ENT department at the University of California, Irvine... According to one study , this iPhone application provided results as good as one administered by an audiol…

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Find an ENT Doctor App

If you have an iPhone or Android , get the ENTLink App... You can search for an ENT by current location or by zip code. The search can be narrowed to a specific specialty area (laryngology, neuro-otology, rhinology, etc) as well. Of course, you can search for the same information from the website . Download the app for iPhone and Android .

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Phone App That Measures How Loudly You Listen to Your Music!

There are plenty of sound meters in the market for iPhone and Android smartphones that tell a user how  loud the surrounding noise is. Many of these apps are free. However, rather than recording the loudness of the surrounding environment, there is now a new phone app called Safe and Sound (only for Android phones) that measures the decibel level of the sound emitted from headphones and gives the user a clear indication of how loud their music really is. Furthermore, it also records the u…

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Smartphone Otoscope for the Masses

The geniuses at UC Berkley ( Cellscope ) have developed an otoscope that can attach to a smartphone allowing visualization of the eardrum on the phone's screen. Possible applications include allowing parents to take pictures of their child's ear on the smartphone and emailing to their physician rather than a clinic visit for diagnosis of an ear infection , fluid behind the eardrum, or eardrum perforation . Not for sale yet... as far as I know... Here is their original research p…

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Dr. Chang Quoted in National Press Release

Dr. Chang has been quoted in a recent national press release regarding the new Sermo iPhone app. Sermo is a physician only online forum where medical quandaries are discussed and advice requested from physicians by physicians. Dr. Chang was recently contacted by Sermo for an interview regarding the new iPhone Sermo app. In the press release, he is quoted: "The ability to consult with my colleagues in real-time, from the patient's bedside or my exam room, addresses an unmet need…

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Sermo iPhone App Review

Sermo is an online physician-only forum where doctors ask other doctors for advice. It's where we post particularly thorny/difficult medical issues we encounter in our patients (no patient identifiers of course) and pick the brains of thousands of other doctors across many different specialties throughout the Unites States for assistance. For example, as an ENT, I can post a particularly unusual patient presentation that has me stumped... for example a weird rash on the face... and p…

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Updated Google App Translates English<->Spanish Conversation in Real-Time

Earlier this month, Google released an incredible app (only for the Android market at this time) that can translate English to Spanish as well as Spanish to English in REAL-TIME allowing for a somewhat stuttered conversation with translations on the fly. At this time from what I hear, it can understand English pretty good, but understanding Spanish is not quite as good. With time, I expect the accuracy to improve to the point that potentially, this app can replace human translators in the e…

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How to Use an EpiPen??? There's An App for That!

No kidding... The makers of the EpiPen have created an app that works on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch called MyEpiPenApp . Within this app, you’ll find: • A video demonstrating how to use an EpiPen Auto-Injector • A quick slideshow (User Guide) to help you visually walk someone through the three steps of an EpiPen injection • The ability for you and your healthcare professional to create multiple allergy profiles listing allergens to avoid and symptoms that may indicate an allerg…

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Fauquier Hospital MediTech Now Accessible on the Mac (As Well As iPad, Windows PC, iPhone, etc)!

Can I just express how totally excited and grateful I am to Fauquier Hospital Information Technology Department for upgrading their Citrix server?!! I can now access the hospital's MediTech EMR from anywhere using not only Windows PC, but also the iPad and Mac platforms as well!!! Even the iPhone, though the screen is a bit small... GREAT job and appreciate how responsive the department as a whole has been! Thank you! Especially given I'm a Mac person.

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INOVA Health System ER Wait Times iPhone App

A reader informed me that INOVA Health System has developed a free iPhone app called InovaER that provides wait times of all 9 emergency rooms within its health system throughout Northern Virginia. The app was released Aug 4, 2010. Pretty cool! Hopefully other hospital systems including  Fauquier Hospital  will join with other regional hospitals (Culpeper, Warren, Prince William, Haymarket) to create a similar program. Download the app here .

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Convert Your iPhone/iPod Into A Hearing Aid With EarTrumpet App!

This fascinating iPhone app called EarTrumpet was developed in collaboration with the Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery at University of California Irvine. The app claims to convert your iPhone/iPod into a hearing aid of sorts (hearing enhancer app is the term they use) via headphones with a built-in microphone (the ear buds that come with the iPhone work just fine). In essence, the microphone will pick up the surrounding sound and the app will instantly amplify the sound a…

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Fauquier Hospital Medical Directory WebApp Created

A new mobile phone WebApp has been created specifically for cell phones called " Fauquier Med ". It provides a listing of all the physicians on staff at Fauquier Hospital broken down by last name, specialty, and practice group. Commonly used hospital numbers are also listed. The WebApp was created specifically for the iPhone, though other mobile smartphone users (Blackberry and Google Android) should also be able to use without difficulty. Directions to add to at least your iPhon…

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