Phone App May Help Prevent People Get a Physical at Home

It might sound impossible, but they've done it again. Technology is continuing to make even greater advancements, so much so that soon, you may not need to go into the doctor for a checkup.

Using your phone, you can check your blood pressure by plugging an arm cuff into the outlet and doing a quick reading. As for your heart, all you need to do is put your fingers in the right spot, and an EKG on your phone can determine just how you're doing.

Other functions include looking at the back of your eye, listening to your heartbeat, charting your lung function and even getting a sonogram.

According to its creators, companies are rapidly trying to develop miniature medical devices that use technology in a way to advance personal health.

"We wanted to make sure they have all the right tools available in their pocket" is how Joseph Flaherty of AgaMatrix describes his company's tiny glucose monitor. Diabetics can plug the iBGStar into the bottom of an iPhone and check blood sugar on the go without carrying an extra device.

This mobile medicine also might help doctors care for patients in new ways. In March, prominent San Diego cardiologist Eric Topol tweeted "no emergency landing req'd" when he used his smartphone EKG to diagnose a distressing but not immediately dangerous irregular heartbeat in a fellow airplane passenger at 30,000 feet.

And the University of California, San Francisco, hopes to enroll a staggering 1 million people in its Health eHeart Study to see whether using mobile technology, including smartphone tracking of people's heart rate and blood pressure, could help treat and prevent cardiovascular disease.

However, some researchers are uncertain if these smartphone devices, many of which cost anywhere from $100 to $200, will benefit the public as much as a general checkup. As it is very new, reports are still out involving the new technology.

What do you think?