Review: ECG Notes
ECG Notes is a new release from USBMIS and is based on F.A. Davis’ ECG Notes: Interpretation and Management Guide. USBMIS were kind enough to provide us with a working copy and the review is based on this running on a Treo 680.
The blurb on the USBMIS website says:
The combination of trusted content and powerful USBMIS mobile technology makes ECG Notes an invaluable reference for experienced healthcare providers as well as a great clinical and teaching guide for students. It presents the basics (anatomy and physiology of the cardiovascular system, electrical conduction system of the heart, basic ECG concepts and components), ACLS and CPR algorithms, emergency medications, and comprehensive information on monitoring leads and interpretation of over 100 ECG rhythms including 12-Lead and pacemaker rhythms.
Let’s see run through the application and see how accurate this description is.
The installation first of all for USBMIS products is normally easy enough. There is a setup file from which you run on your Windows PC and by following the prompts should get you to a step where by you are asked (for Palm) whether you want the installation in Ram or in Card. Normally the latter is advisable in order to save on Ram space. I had a glitch where by the Hotsync process hung as it could not move the files to my SD card. I had to run Scandisk to fix some corrupt sectors on my SD card first and then manually copy over the PDBs to the launcher folder. However I think the problem was with my card rather than the installation routine.
The program starts off with the familiar USBMIS interface
There are 6 tabs which cover sections on Basics, ECG strips, 12 Lead ECG, Medications/Skills, CPR/ACLS and Test/Tools.
The Basics covers basic cardiac anatomy, physiology and carrying out & interpreting ECGs. If for example you have forgotten how to calculate the heart rate from teh ECG strip, the information is there. The anatomy section is well illustrated as it should be. On my Treo, the diagrams were large and one has to scroll a bit up and down but that’s the price to pay for a smaller device. On a large screen PDA, the display should be easier to view.
The second tab, the ECG section covers every arrhythmia and AV block that I can think of, and includes pacemaker rhythms and even artifacts
Each rhythm abnormality has links to images of corresponding ECG strips which enhances the text description
I thought it would be fantastic to have a real-time moving display of the ECG strip much like a cardiac monitor, but I guess that’s asking too much o the programmers!
The third tab covers 12 lead placement and the bulk of this deals with changes you see in Myocardial infarction and bundle branch block
The Tab on Meds/Skills I thought makes this reference very useful for clinicians as it has details on drugs commonly used in CPR and also a section on using defibrillators
The last two tabs are like an icing on the cake. The CPR/ACLS will be useful for those undergoing the ACLS course. The Test section has 50+ ECG strips to test your knowledge.
You could easily jump to any topic of your choice with the handy Search tool at the top of the main page.
USBMIS’s trademark Notes and Bookmarking features enables you to personalize this reference.
Overall I am very impressed with this reference and it will be a useful addition to anyone in the medical field who deals a lot with ECGs. Did it cover all that it claims to? You bet it does!
Disclosure: Apart from the software provided by USBMIS, this is an independent assessment and review not sponsored by any party.
View other Reviews in the Palmdoc Chronicles
|
About the author, Alan: Alan Teh is a Malaysian Physician who specialises in Hematology-Oncology & Stem cell Transplantation. He has been using Palm PDAs since 1997 and is absolutely reliant on them. His current PDA is a Palm Pre and is a strong advocate of the webOS platform, Palm's latest operating system. Caught the blogging bug in 2004 and has been addicted ever since… |
