Healthcare's momentum towards mobility continues to accelerate. After a strong presence at CTIA earlier this month, GE has now introduced the Vscan - a device nothing short of a flip phone doppelganger - but instead of taking calls it takes ultrasounds.
The benefits of such a device are plentiful; easier movement around an office/hospital, portability beyond the primary workspace, or just cost savings over larger machines. But another interesting possibility exists - if companies such as airstrip can put vital signs on an iPhone couldn't ultrasound applications also be ported to smartphones?
Clearly specialized accessories would be necessary but the raw computing power of smartphones (or even perhaps an iPod Touch type device) would certainly be on par with niche devices. Connectivity from smartphones/connected devices would also provide easy updating of electronic medical files.
While niche wireless healthcare devices remain in their early stages of deployment it is clear that the value of portability and connectivity is craved in healthcare as it has been by so many other industries.
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