A new mobile app — like an Instagram for doctors — has taken the medical community by storm.
Figure 1, developed by a Toronto-based startup, is not for those with weak stomachs. But for more than 150,000 doctors, nurses and dentists who have uploaded case photos, and for an estimated 30 percent of medical students nationwide who use it, Figure 1 is a tool that makes digital collaboration simpler and easier than ever.
And for people like you and me, it's a rare, unfiltered window into the medical world. Some of the sights I came upon include: an extremely rare brain melanoma that was just removed, a 25-year-old with a pocket knife embedded in his skull, and an X-ray of a child's stomach after he swallowed a coin. But for every bit of morbid curiosity Figure 1 satisfies, there are many things of poignance and interest.
One user, PunkRockDoc, posted a photo of a brain harvested from a dementia patient. Upon viewing the photo, which showed an atrophied frontal lobe, one registered nurse commented: "My dad is in the last stages of Alzheimers … This is very interesting and very sad to see what my sweet dad's brain looks like."
Some photos elicited spirited debates, while others overwhelmed with sadness. "Please keep us updated," wrote one user to the pediatric orthopedic surgeon who uploaded a photo of a severely deformed infant.
The app has the ground rules of medical privacy one would expect — faces are automatically blurred, users must manually block any identifying marks like tattoos, and the rarest conditions found only in a few patients are not permitted to be featured, for fear of compromising anonymity. Only verified doctors who have provided credentials are allowed to post, according to the app-makers. And the app's founder, Dr. Josh Landy, has vowed to reject sensationalist images that do not have an educational purpose — though I'm not sure how a 25-year-old with a pocket-knife protruding from his skull is educational. Doctors are advised to seek written permission from patents before posting.
What's so striking about this app is that it doesn't try too hard. It's simple. Other medical image-sharing services aren't as simple — they require subscriptions, are highly curated and include the dense articles you'd expect from a medical journal.
This app — just like Instagram — is all images and comments.
"I have learned A LOT from this app," wrote one nursing student. "I am mostly a visual learner and the pictures posted here are awesome."
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