Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc (MDRX), Google Inc (GOOG): Will Augmented Reality Medical Apps Bridge a Gap in Health Care?

The challenges facing AR app developers
Making a functional AR app, however, is not as simple as creating regular mobile apps for smartphones and tablets. On the hardware side, AR apps rely on sensors, cameras, and network connections to be working at optimum levels. On the software side, they require strong image recognition algorithms that can identify objects from a variety of angles.

Most consumers have encountered this kind of technology in Facebook and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s facial recognition engines. Creating software that can identify body parts and organs from multiple angles, on the other hand, will be much harder to achieve than matching facial features.

The foundations have already been built
Yet the foundation for these AR apps has already been built by software developers.

Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:MDRX)’ native iPad EHR app, Wand 2.0, allows doctors to directly take pictures of patients’ bodies during an examination. The photos can then directly be documented and stored in a cloud-based EHR. AR could enhance this technology by scanning for problems immediately when the photo is taken. For example, a photo of an infected eye could immediately be analyzed via an algorithm, with the data logged directly into the EHR.

athenahealth, Inc (NASDAQ:ATHN)’s Epocrates and WebMD Health Corp. (NASDAQ:WBMD)’s Medscape, two major medical reference apps, could also be enhanced with AR technology. Skin diseases, for example, could be scanned via a camera like a barcode for immediate possible diagnoses. The camera could also be used to capture and log images as study notes to be used alongside the apps, which are two of the most popular apps among medical students.

The Foolish bottom line
The health care tech industry is evolving every day. Augmented reality might still be in the testing phases, but it will still play a huge part of the mobile revolution in health care, which I discussed in a previous article. Investors interested in the evolution of EHRs and mobile health care tech should keep a close eye on the possible applications of these AR apps.

The article Will Augmented Reality Medical Apps Bridge a Gap in Health Care? originally appeared on Fool.com is written by Leo Sun.

Leo Sun owns shares of Apple. The Motley Fool recommends Apple, Athenahealth, and Google. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple and Google. 

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.