The healthcare management apps are categorized as mobile software that diagnoses, track or treat several chronic diseases. Health apps can monitor and manage patients' health outside the hospital, by track vitals or even analyze medical images for physicians, thus leads to the effective management of patients' health.
Today, machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and instant data transfer technologies are driving the development of innovative healthcare management apps.
Recently, a team of scientist at UCL and Birkbeck, University of London have brought forward an application with the name cloudUPDRS that allows one to monitor Parkinson’s disease's advancement while at home. This recent development of technological advanced applications is positively impacting the Health Condition Management App Market. The app has the ability to gauge an individual’s symptoms distantly and without any special equipment. The app is certified as a medical device with the UK’s regulatory body and includes both physical tests and self-assessment questions. It uses the movements of the smartphone and touch sensors to measure symptoms like gait and tremors.
Typically, an assessment of this disease takes place in a doctor’s office. However, that turns out to be awfully time-consuming while also not giving a very detailed output. Although tests exist, they are not considered beneficial for either patients or health care personnel due to their time-consuming nature. Curbing this problem, the new app offers patients the capability to test while sitting comfortably at home. Moreover, with this app, tests can be done more recurrently than the present set standard of biannual checkups.
Parkinson’s disease symptoms vary from patient to patient. Besides, they even fluctuate within a patient throughout the day. Using a user-friendly app ensures that multiple readings would be taken over a period of time, leading to the capture of fluctuations in the symptoms much more accurately.
This app was tested by the researchers by taking 60 people who are suffering from Parkinson’s disease. They were asked to take 990 tests on the app while being tested by three clinicians. They concluded that 70% of app’s results matched with those given by the doctors. By these tests, the application was able to reach an accuracy of 79%. Although this percentage seems less than ideal, it should be noted that the aim of the app is not to work as a substitute for doctors. Moreover, its readings are objective and consistent, unlike the variation that occurs between the diagnosis of one doctor and the other.