Oh Me Nerves Is Gone: Best Free Andoid Apps For Neurologists

Oh me nerves is gone (loc.): chief complaint in Newfoundland
Neurologist (n.): a doc with a fork and a hammer
Neuro APPT (n.): an appointment with a doc armed with a fork and a hammer
Neuro APP (n.): a modern tool for a doc armed with a fork and a hammer

Let's start with the tools of the trade.

Neurology Exam Tools App

This is a multipurpose app that combines a torch, a bell, and a tuning fork. All you need to do is to tap on the respective icon.

Torch

The beam of light comes out of the camera LED flash on the back of the phone. It is very bright. I almost blinded myself. (For those who are not aware: in the Galaxy S 5-7, the flash LED also serves as a heart rate sensor. Heart rate can be checked via the “S Health” app. Just cover the flash LED with a finger and tap on the “monitor” in the app.

Bell

The volume is regulated by the “Media volume” button on the phone. Here are possible uses for the bell at X-mas time:

1.     Wearing a lab coat, pose as a bell ringer next to the "Salvation Army" Santa.

2.     Play the “Jingle Bells” melody with colleagues. It is hard to do solo (I spent an hour trying), but it could be achieved by using two or three phones.

Tuning fork

Don’t forget to enable the "Vibration" option on the phone.

Hammer (a suggestion on my part)

If your phone is encased in heavy metal, use it as a reflex hammer. The "Armor King" aluminum case brings the weight of the Galaxy S 5 up to 250 grams. At one institution, security was debating whether my phone could be used as a weapon, until I lost my patience and told them to hold on to the blasted case for the duration of my visit.

The app also contains the “Neuro Exam Guide” with clinical measurement references, and the SLUMS Mental Status Exam. The latter is equipped with two useful features: a timer for the naming section (“name as many animals as you can in 1 min”) and both text and audio for the “Story” section. (The story is very short, followed by four questions about its details).

The Verdict: A must-have app.

The Best Educational App

Prognosis : Neurology

The app contains 28 neurology cases which have to be downloaded separately. Once it’s done, they can be accessed offline. The cases have fitting names, such as “Stiff” for Parkinson’s disease or “Sparkly” for migraine.

The history and physical are provided, after which a user has to select diagnostic tests and management options. The app is very stubborn: if a case is failed, it insists on trying again (and again) until you are able to complete it to satisfaction. Each case is discussed in great detail. At the end, the “take home messages” are summarized, and an extensive list of references is provided. In the final “Comments” section, docs argue about the appropriateness of a certain investigative procedure or treatment.

The Verdict: An excellent educational app. It might be prudent to add a few new cases now and then. Nonetheless, it is definitely one of the best.

READ Deep-Brain Stimulation Offers Flip Of A Switch Solution For Neurological Illnesses

The Best Reference App

5 Minutes Neurology

This is a reference e-book rather than an app, very comprehensive but a bit inconvenient to navigate. It is divided into four sections: “Neurological Symptoms and Signs”, “Diagnostic Tests”, “Diseases and Disorders, and “Short topics”. The latter gives a brief description of syndromes not covered elsewhere in the book. Each topic is no more than two pages long, and one page fits the screen. Unless you have the eyesight of an eagle (which is 4-8 times stronger than that of a non-bespectacled doctor), the pages have to be zoomed in. It would be better to make the book more app-like and add links to each portion of an article (“description” or “epidemiology”), so that they could be accessed individually in a larger font.

The Verdict: Content-wise, the app is very good, but the interface could be improved.

The Best CME, NIHSS, and Exam Prep Apps

The Best CME App

Neurology Advisor

'Tis the most wonderful time of the year. By the end of December or January, the majority of physicians are required to submit a proof of continuing medical education (CME) to the licensing authorities, medical boards or professional colleges. This app is ideal for CME, especially if the regulatory authority allows you to log hours of “online reading” or “internet browsing”.

The app offers the most recent news, opinions, and medical guidelines with regular updates. They can be accessed via two sections: the “Latest content” and topic-specific, such as “Stroke” or “Epilepsy and Seizures”. The app also has a drug directory arranged by subject with subgroups, such as, “Psychiatric disorders”: “Mood”, “Anxiety”.

Lastly, there is a section for physicians who must provide official CME certificates. The number of credits (from 0.25 to 2.0) is listed under the title of a course. The app requires registering before embarking on an educational journey. The registration form swallowed my Canadian practice address without complaints, and I was awarded 2 CME credits for "Preventing Medical Errors for Clinical Health Professionals” relatively soon. This course is suitable for pretty much any medical specialty. Unfortunately, there is no option to save a certificate of completion as a PDF, and the option to email it did not work.

The Verdict: A very good up-to-date app for CME. Please add an option to save the CME certificate.

Best NIHSS App

The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) in an important neurological tool to assess stroke severity. There are a bunch of apps on Google Play dedicated to the stroke scale. The following apps were reviewed:

• NIHSS-MedDoctors
• NIHSSAndroidApp
• NIHStrokeScaleFinal
• NIHSS Stroke Scale

All do the job, but I liked this one the best:

NIH Stroke Scale (NIHSS)

The app offers the full scale, 8-item, scale, and a 5-item scale. The “Pro mode” enables the modified NIH scale which is 3 questions shorter than the full one and easier to use. The “Help” section gives a brief description of each scale and a list of references.

The Verdict: A great all-in-one stroke assessment app.

The Best Exam Prep App

Clinical Neurology/Neuro Sci. by Scrub Wars

Those who grew up watching “Star Wars” and playing video games will really appreciate this app. It offers multiple choice questions to study for the USMLE and COMLEX (American licensing exams which are necessary in order to start postgraduate training). Only the first level is free, consisting of 50 mixed neurology questions. Capsules containing answers slowly fall down from the sky, advancing onto a spaceship which shoots syringes loaded with something green. It is a nerve-racking experience for sure. Keeping a spaceship in a good working order by avoiding meteors, moving it into the appropriate position, reading questions, and shooting at answers requires a great deal of concentration.

About 20 percent of the questions have two correct answers which complicates the matter, not mentioning such distractions as the necessity to collect ATP molecules. If actual USMLE required such dexterity, some of us would never make it. Corresponding ipsilateral or contralateral paralysis with the appropriate motor neuron pathways is difficult enough even without a need to maneuver a spacecraft.

I failed the test by three questions the first time and was appropriately reminded about my stupidity by Peyronie Attending, which brought up sweet memories of my residency training. After taking some benzos to steady me nerves, I gave it another shot. The second time was a pass, followed by a compliment from the nicer Benevolent Attending.

The Verdict: A fun app containing relevant questions, and the entire Q-bank is priced very reasonably (4.99$).

The app is NOT recommended for medics with attention deficit, anxiety, poor anger management, not so fine motor skills, and no background in playing video games.

An Afterthought: Maybe it’s not a bad idea to use this interface for board certification exams. It would definitely make two days of torture much livelier.

READ The Daily Schedule Of A Neurologist

TIY: Test It Yourself Apps

More conventional exam-prep apps for nursing and medical students:

• Neurology short questions
• Neurology
• PreTest Neurology
• NCLEX Neurology &Nervous Systm
• Neurology Review Quiz
• Neurology Quiz Volume#1 Lite
• Neurology & Neuroscience Quiz
• Neurology QA Review
• PCCN Certification Exam Prep
• Neurology exam prep

Neuroanatomy and Imaging:

• 3D Brain
• 3-D brain Atlas
• NeuroSlice
• Nerve Whiz
• Brain 3D Anatomy Lite
• 3D Interactive Brain
• Interactive Neuro Anatomy 3D
• NEUROANATOMY - Digital Atlas

Journals and CME:

• Neurology®
• Neurology Today®
• Neurology® Clinical Practice
• Stroke Trials
• Neurocritical Care
• Continuum®
• Continuum Audio
• Neurology Now®
• European Journal of Neurology
• Neurology® Neuroimm Neuroinfla
• Neurology® Genetics
• Brain Journal
• Journal of Pediatric Neurology