Phenomizer – A Smartphone App that Aids the Diagnosis of Hereditary Disease

by | Last updated Jul 21, 2023 | Published on Nov 17, 2014 | Healthcare News

Phenomizer
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The days are gone when mobiles were used only to make calls. The wide usage of mobile technologies is opening new and innovative ways to improve health as well as health care delivery. Along with helping people manage their own health and wellness, mobile health applications are also assisting physicians in their profession. Several reports highlight the fact that clinicians are rapidly increasing their use of mobile devices at work. According to a report published in 2013 by epoCRATES, an athenahealth company, 86% of clinicians now use smartphones in their professional activities, up from 78% in 2012. In addition, 53% use tablets at work, compared to 34% last year.

Many such apps are designed for the doctors themselves. Mobile Apps are assisting physicians to enhance connectivity with patients; they can also help in the diagnosis of certain hereditary diseases such as diabetes, epilepsy, heart defects and deafness.

Each disease can have different characteristics in each patient. A major problem that doctors face while diagnosing hereditary diseases such as cystic fibrosis and Huntington’s disease is the fact that symptoms for some of these diseases are very similar to other illnesses. Phenomizer is a new Android application for smartphone and tablet that will make diagnosing hereditary diseases a bit easier. Created by Marcel Schulz and his team of researchers from Max Planck Institute for Informatics in Germany, this mobile health application is available in the Google Play store.

How this Android Application Works

The app is designed to reduce research time and increase time with patients. Physicians can input a patient’s symptoms to use the program. The system scans a large online database called the Human Phenotype Ontology, which stores over 10,000 disease characteristics and links them to 7,500 diseases and provides a list that supports them in detecting the disease more quickly. Moreover, doctors can ask patients about their symptoms in greater detail. This makes it easier to assess the aspects they need to pay attention to.

Other Smartphone apps for diagnosing diseases that were introduced earlier include:

  • Mole Detect Pro helping dermatologists to detect skin cancer
  • SmartGait to prevent falls among older adults
  • Stroke and epilepsy apps to detect epilepsy and improve stroke care

Rajeev Rajagopal

Rajeev Rajagopal, the President of OSI, has a wealth of experience as a healthcare business consultant in the United States. He has a keen understanding of current medical billing and coding standards.

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