Mobile medical technologies can revolutionise patient care at the bedside

By Dr Shakawan Ismaeel:

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Recently in my hospital we met a representative of a medical company who was very keen to sell us a new technology. My colleague had told me a few days earlier about this meeting but I did not commit to it as we often see company representatives who always try a hard-sell to present their product as the wonder gadget or drug: which sometimes is simply not true.

On the day of the meeting, as I was going to my office after finishing a very busy clinic, my colleague told me that the meeting was on in ten minutes and he would like me to be there as nobody else had turned up (I was wondering, why?) So I had no choice and arrived in a grumpy mood. But, to my surprise, soon my mood lightened up at the sight of a young lady with a portable blood analyzer in her hand (image 1)!

Before I tell you what this device does, let me explain how many hospitals currently work. When patients present to the unit they will be seen and assessed by a junior doctor who will take blood samples and send it to the lab. The waiting time for blood results ranges from one to up to six hours depending on many factors.

Although the clinical assessment is paramount in making a diagnosis and starting appropriate treatment, on many occasions the decision is made after the blood results are back and therefore a speedy bedside testing will make these decisions quicker and in some cases save lives, not to mention enabling many patients to go home quicker rather than waiting hours on end for their results.

This new technology is extremely promising as it will only need a few drops of blood and give the results in mere two minutes! More importantly, the results are validated according to lab standards.

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So the potential of this new technology is wide ranging and could be used to make immediate decisions in cases like: cardiac arrest, acutely ill patients, rural areas, private clinics, underdeveloped countries and many others.

This device is capable of doing many of the basic tests such as: sodium, potassium, urea, creatinine, glucose, lactate, troponin I, CK, haemoglobine and blood gas analysis.

About six months ago my unit bought another mobile technology device which has led to similarly quick results and decisions made at the bedside because  it is the size of a mobile phone (image 2).  This device can do ultrasound scanning of the liver, kidneys, pancreas and bladder and assessment of heart function.

This type of equipment is in use in my hospital in the UK and I’ll welcome the day when it’s also used to help patients in Kurdistan and everywhere.

When the stethoscope was invented in 1816 it was a revolutionary invention and allowed doctors to make diagnoses more easily. The emerging mobile technologies will revolutionise medicine even more as skilled doctors will have access to a mobile lab wherever they are.

Dr Shakawan Ismaeel is a consultant physician in acute medicine who writes about health issues in Kurdistan and around the world: Kurdistan is my home