Wireless Medical Blog
iPhone and iPad applications for mobile health solved by OS 4.0?
By Vaishali Kamat - Last updated: Monday, April 12, 2010iPhone and iPad Bluetooth wireless hardware accessories present an opportunity to enable health services, but will the release of iPhone OS 4.0 enable the applications to be built?
iPhone OS 3.0 generated a lot of interest in medical applications. At the launch J&J Lifescan demonstrated a glucose meter sending data via Bluetooth to a diabetes management app running on the Phone. More than 12 months later and we have not seen any medical accessories launched for the iPhone. Here are the main challenges to creating a health accessory for the iPhone:
1. Proprietary protocol on top of Bluetooth
The iPhone and iPad support a limited number Bluetooth profiles. These Bluetooth profiles enable the iPhone to support standard devices such as headphones (A2DP) and handsfree (HFP). The introduction of the Human interface Device profile now enables the iPad to connect to Bluetooth keyboards, and pointing accessories. If you want to develop an application to communicate with a medical or health device then you have a more significant challenge. iPhone OS 3.0 introduced the ability to connect to external accessories (other than the basic Bluetooth profiles). This requires you to communicate with the device using a “lingo” essentially a proprietary protocol on top of the Bluetooth link. This prevents you from developing an app for the iPhone to connect to standard Bluetooth health accessories using the Health device profile. It will also add to the software development budget for your accessory.
2. iPhone Authentication chip
Apple have an additional tool for maintaining control of the iPhone accessory market. If you want your hardware to use the “lingo” to communicate with the iPad or iPhone you will need to include an additional chip in your hardware. The chip is used by the phone to authenticate that your hardware is qualified to work with the iPhone. This chip adds to the BOM cost of your device, and adds development cost to your hardware.
3. FDA Regulatory status
What is the regulatory status of a mobile phone that enables you to manage your diabetes. Specifically one which connects to your glucose meter and advises you on your insulin doses and diet. Is the phone a medical device? What about the app? These uncertainties about the regulatory status of the device if it is used with a medical or health accessory worry the mobile phone companies.
4. All or nothing software development
Apple have a large market share in the smart phone category with 50 million iPhones in the market, but they are taking steps to ensure that app developers have to focus on the the iPhone to the exclusion of other handsets. Apps for the iPhone must be coded in a variant of the C programming language preventing the use of tools such as Flash. The proprietary API in the apple developer tools prevents the use of cross platform user interface development tools such as QT or GTK+. This means that you will need to develop an application that is focused just for the iPhone, and redevelop for other mobile platforms. This again increases the cost of development.
Changes with iPhone 4.0?
Up until today the iPhone only enables one application to run at a time, which delivers the simplicity of the user experience. This limits the ability to interact with your accessory. The application cannot listen for data while in standby, or while the user checks their mail. With version 4 of the iPhone operating system this restriction has been lifted. The iPhone will now have the ability for applications to run some tasks in the background while the user is busy with another application. This is a positive step which may enable better interaction with accessories, but until developers get to work with the system we wont know whether this overcomes the existing limitations.
Summary:
It is not straight forward to develop a wireless accessory for the iPad or iPhone. Cambridge Consultants provide powerful Bluetooth development tools to simplify the process of developing iPhone accessories, but it still requires a significant investment to join the iPhone ecosystem. Regulatory concerns are a significant issue for any company wanting to enter the market (more on that later).
There is no denying that the iPad and iPhone are beautiful devices, and a joy to use. They hold significant potential as platforms for offering mobile health services, and despite the hurdles wireless accessories will become more common in 2010.
Comments:
Tweets that mention iPhone and iPad applications for mobile health solved by OS 4.0? » Wireless Medical — Topsy.com Said,
April 16, 2010 @ 3:20 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Paul Williamson, jon adams and cambridgeconsultants, Paul Williamson. Paul Williamson said: My Blog post on the challenges in developing wireless accessories for the iPhone or iPad http://bit.ly/arSPrk [...]
paulwilliamson Said,
April 19, 2010 @ 11:00 am
Thanks for some great comments on linked in groups. Simon Kingston points out that the development cost is less of a hurdle that the uncertainty in getting your app accepted by apple:
“you can spend months developing a new product but have no guarantee that the required phone app will be accepted into the app store. For small companies, that makes it very difficult to build a business case around such products”
Josh Schilling points out that only a change in the market will convince apple to open up its platform. He suggests that personal fitness products on Android might do just that:
“If I can get 20 or 40 fantastic devices (heart rate monitor, a pedometer, etc…) that work with the Android OS and only 2 or 3 that work with the iPhone, then I think that the competition itself will release the limitation.”
Scott Thielman pointed out that the phone itself should not store data, but act as a viewing platform to minimise the security and regulatory concern:
“it will be easier if designers can find ways to abstract the phone as a terminal for viewing rather than collecting data directly”
drbillmackin Said,
June 11, 2010 @ 3:21 am
I really interested in your post. Actually I posted a similar related article in my blog regarding this issue. What is your opinion about it?
http://www.healthgrounds.net
Bill
Tweets that mention iPhone and iPad applications for mobile health solved by OS 4.0? » Wireless Medical — Topsy.com Said,
April 16, 2010 @ 3:14 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by jon adams and cambridgeconsultants, Paul Williamson. Paul Williamson said: My Blog post on the challenges in developing wireless accessories for the iPhone or iPad http://bit.ly/arSPrk [...]