Chapter 5 - Medical problem apps

Abstract

Health apps have undergone a dramatic and almost unrecognizable evolution since the birth of smartphones and app stores. Beginning as simple ways of communicating medical information in digital forms, apps have evolved into highly sophisticated and intelligent pieces of software which utilize the whole gamut of smartphone features in order to investigate, diagnose, and even treat hundreds of conditions across multiple physiological systems. For example, some health apps are capable of diagnosing skin cancers, predicting personalized risk of asthma exacerbations, “crowdsourcing” sight for people with visual impairment, and even treating type 1 diabetes with an “artificial pancreas system.” Typically, health apps are designed around a specific medical problem such as diabetes or depression with many modern apps focusing on delivering multiple components of care in digital forms. With over 350,00 health apps across the top 2 mobile app libraries (The Google Play Store on Android and Apple App Store on iOS) and a vast number of medical problems that health apps are designed around, we have organized this chapter according to the functions that apps have evolved to serve—from simple information provision through to treatment of specific conditions. Broadly, apps are considered as information apps; communication apps; diagnosis, self-management and monitoring apps; and treatment apps.