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Company Launches iPhone Product for Home Ear Infection Diagnosis
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A California start-up hopes parents who suspect their child has an ear infection will reach for their iPhones rather than book an appointment with their pediatrician.
announced Wednesday the launch of an iPhone otoscope attachment for parents to use at home. The Oto HOME attachment will allow parents to capture video of an ear exam on their kids and connect with a physician for remote assessment and treatment.
Cellscope’s iPhone attachment sits over the device’s camera and inserts into the ear canal to capture images of the ear drum. For parents worried about an ear infection, they simply open the app, attach the device to their iPhone, and insert the ear piece into the ear canal to begin capturing images. These images are then shared with a physician along with a history questionnaire via the Oto CONNECT service. The consulting physician can review all of that information and then call the parents within two hours to discuss next steps.
Cellscope’s Oto HOME follows a growing line of direct-to-consumer diagnostic health devices like the AliveCor Heart Monitorand iSonea’s AirSonea device. These devices are enabling patients to capture an ever increasing amount of data ranging from standard ECG tracings to more novel items like the “wheeze rate.”
