Would you be concerned if you found out that your doctor was looking at your CT head scan on a handheld PDA instead of on his desktop computer? If so, you'd be jumping to false conclusions about his inefficiency. It turns out that scans viewed on PDA's are just as efficient as those viewed at workstations.
A study in Ireland reviewed CT scans "for reporting the presence of an acute intracranial hemorrhage". Doctors were asked to review scans on a PDA using a particular grading system that assessed how clear and useful the scan was. Later, doctors were asked to review the same scans on a standard CT viewing workstation. The determination was that the smaller handheld device was just as effective as its bigger counterpart at providing the necessary information for treatment.
This is important because it allows doctors to achieve increased mobility without compromising the quality of patient care. This will be increasingly true as better technologies are developed for mobile devices.
Question of the Day: Would you be comfortable having your doctor view your CT head scan on a PDA?
