iPads are being used in restaurants or coffee shops. iPads are also finding application in Universities or in automotive showrooms. iPads are also being used as a means of in-flight entertainment. We have heard of all this. But iPads being doled out to patients admitted in hospitals to held them cope with their treatments? Well, that’s exactly what the doctors at the St. Louis Children’s Hospital have resorted to do to help the children feel a little more at home during their stay in the hospital. And its only when they are less anxious and calm that they tend to respond better to treatment.
iPads will be of more help to those who are required to stay at the hospital for longer duration of time. The Apple wonder can then act as a distraction to them from the pain or discomfort that they are having to go through. They can play games or indulge in the plethora of activities that the iPad allows to do.
Hospital authorities believe the iPad can actually help in the treatment process in three ways. As Tyler Robertson, a child life specialist at the hospital puts in, “Education, the second is distraction and then the last one is preparation.” Robertson’s job at the hospital is to help patients so that they are able to manage stress better while they are staying in the hospital.
“We show them the doctors dressed up in their scrubs and hats,” says Robertson while explaining how the iPad has helped them connect better with their patients.
iPads are also playing an important role in letting the patients know what’s going on in their body. Like the iPad was used to let a young patient know a bit about kidneys in the the pediatric kidney dialysis unit. This way, the children will have a better idea of the various organs in our body, their likely diseases as well as ways to overcomes them.
St. Louis Children’s Hospital has projected a need of 15 iPads as of now and have already got two of them.
And while child patients can look forward to good times while they are at the St. Louis Children’s Hospital, there is report of the iPad helping doctors in another part of the world during a surgical operation. The report points to how a team of Japanese surgeons at a hospital located in Kobe, Japan has used the iPad for displaying PACS images during a live surgical procedure. The iPad used was carried right into the operation theater and was wrapped in a sterile trasparent material. The doctors had repeatedly used the pinch to zoom feature of the iPad with their gloved fingers to have a detailed 3D view of the images so that they have a better idea of the patient’s actual condition. The detailed images displayed on the iPads screen then helped the surgeons to guide their scalpels and save the patients life. Another wonderful example of how the iPad can have a big role to play in the health care sector and can even become indispensable for proper treatment.
So, that’s one more area where the iPad has permeated to our everyday life. Of course this does not seem to be the last though we wonder where next can the Apple’s wonder creation will pop up next. Who knows, the humble iPad may one day be used to even ‘Heal the World.’
Keep watching for more insights from the world of tablet/slates along with the latest e-reader news.
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With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in technology and gadgets. That includes smartphones or tablet devices but stretches to even AI and self-driven automobiles, the latter being my latest fad. Besides writing, I like watching videos, reading, listening to music, or experimenting with different recipes. The motion picture is another aspect that interests me a lot, and I'll likely make a film sometime in the future.
