Long ago in a keynote far far away Steve jobs promised medical devices connected to our iOS devices. Some of the prophesied devices are beginning to hit the market. It is an interesting concept considering how common and ubiquitous consumer tech is becoming in even the medical field.
That is why when we saw the iHealth we were slightly startled. In reality is makes great sense to only have to lug around and use a single device instead of needing dedicated equipment. The prospects of so heavily relying upon our beloved Apple devices for things like our health does leave us slightly concerned. That stems from our worry that the iOS devices might not be as accurate as a normal dedicated medical device.
Where this does show real promise is in hopefully lowering the bar to users. Hopefully the new devices will encourage and enable otherwise skittish patients to use their medical monitoring devices instead of leaving them in the box. Additionally a real advantage such devices could offer in the future would be help reduce the costs of medical monitoring devices. The legion of retiring baby booms means that any way to further streamline and reduce the costs of medicine will become a big business. Hopefully soon devices such as the iHealth will become common.
What is your opinion on the prospect of your iOS device as medical instrument?
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It's surprising that Steve Jobs would open himself up to FDA regulation. I've worked in that environment ... it can be brutal.
@Rckmnr, he didn't. These devices are not made by apple and the iOS devices they are made for are nothing more than displays for whatever information is being gathered. In truth, these will not be used by medical professionals. The blood pressure monitor for instance, will likely be purchased by home users who need to monitor blood pressure and the iphone app will simply keep a record of results. It's not doing the monitoring, just the recording, so a statement like "...a single device instead of needing dedicated equipment" seems odd. You still need dedicated equipment, plus an i-device, so in fact there is more stuff to "lug around".
"Steve Jobs promised medical devices connected to our iOS devices."
Your right ... he didn't yet.
Anything that displays or gathers information will be treated as a medical device by FDA.
Besides, If these will not be used by medical professionals, what's the point?
The iphone is still just an iphone. Other companies may sell consumer medical devices that plug into it, but that does not make the iphone a medical device any more than an FM transmitter that plugs into an iphone makes it an FM transmitter. The FCC doesn't perform interference tests in the FM band on the iphone simply because you can buy a peripheral that transmits FM. Those tests are performed on the peripheral.
What's the point? Consumer medical devices are a huge and growing industry. My grandmother checks her blood pressure several times a day with a little $50 home BP monitor. She records the results and looks for trends. While she's not likely to buy an iphone, many people already have them and might like the nifty little graphs the app is likely to spit out. Similarly, my uncle checks his blood glucose level daily. These devices already exist, the only thing new here is you can plug it into your iphone... and people love that.