Abstract
Apple changed the communications landscape with its 2007 introduction of the iPhone. In little more than a decade, most Americans have become smartphone owners. With more than 200,000 applications (apps) for education available in the Apple App Store, we can infer that many smartphone owners use their devices to learn. Several surveys of medical students reveal that apps do indeed enhance clinical knowledge and provide comparable training with textbooks. We launched our first iOS app, the CTisus iQuiz, in 2010 in response to the growing number of portable devices, and with an intention to grow alongside technology. We now have 17 apps available for free on the App Store, and present tips here on how to successfully develop apps for radiology education. Furthermore, we detail the steps necessary to advertise a new app and use analytics to assess how the app is performing. Generating apps for radiology can play an important role in continuing education. As the medical and education fields are integrating increasingly with technology, it is essential that we use technology to reach and interact with its users. Creating iOS applications and using analytics to understand how they meet the goals of the developer can expand the reach of the medical and education communities and render information more accessible on mobile devices on a large scale.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Press release. Apple reinvents the phone with iPhone. Apple Newsroom. January 9, 2007. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2007/01/09Apple-Reinvents-the-Phone-with-iPhone/. Accessed 1/30/20.
Effron L, Potter N. iPhone: evolution of Apple’s iconic smartphone since 2007. ABC News. September 13, 2012. https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/iphone-features-apple-smartphone-evolved-introduction-2007/story?id=17226964. Accessed 1/30/20.
Pew Research Center, Internet and Technology. Mobile fact sheet. June 12, 2019. http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/mobile/. Accessed 1/31/20.
Newsroom. The App Store turns 10. July 5, 2018. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2018/07/app-store-turns-10/. Accessed 1/31/20.
Quant C, Altieri L, Torres J, Craft N. The self-perception and usage of medical apps amongst medical students in the United States: a cross-sectional survey. Int J Telemed Appl. 2016;2016:3929741.
Nilsson PM, Todsen T, Subhi Y, Graumann O, Nolsøe CP, Tolsgaard MG. Cost-effectiveness of mobile app-guided training in extended focused assessment with sonography for trauma (eFAST): a randomized trial. Ultraschall Med. 2017 Dec;38(6):642-647.
Darras KE, van Merriënboer GJJ, Toom M, Roberson ND, de Bruin HAB, Nicolau S, Forster BB. Developing the evidence base for M-learning in undergraduate radiology education: identifying learner preferences for mobile apps. Can Assoc Radiol J. 2019;70(3):320-326.
O’Connor S, Andrews T. Smartphones and mobile applications (apps) in clinical nursing: a student perspective. Nurse Educ Today. 2018;69:172-178.
Rahmani G, McCarthy PA. The use of mobile apps by radiology journals. J Digit Imaging. 2017;30(5):529.
Wadhwa V, Jacks BB, Dubey D, Meek ME, Bricco D. Smartphone apps as a source of information about interventional radiology. Cardiovasc Intervent Radiol. 2017 Jun;40(6):957-958.
CTisus Google Analytics page. https://analytics.google.com. Accessed 1/31/20.
Apple Developer Program. How the program works. https://developer.apple.com/programs/how-it-works/. Accessed 1/31/20.
Kim MS, Aro MR, Lage KJ, Ingalls KL, Sindhwani V, Markey MK. Exploring the usability of mobile apps supporting radiologists’ training in diagnostic decision making. J Am Coll Radiol. 2016 Mar;13(3):335-43.
App Store. App Store review guidelines. https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/. Accessed 1/31/20.
App Analytics. About app analytics. https://help.apple.com/app-store-connect/#/itc623752a8d. Accessed 1/31/20.
Apple Developer. Protecting the user’s privacy. https://developer.apple.com/documentation/uikit/core_app/protecting_the_user_s_privacy. Accessed 1/31/20.
Lemmon A. CTisus iQuiz app review. J Digit Imaging. 2015;28(5):515-7. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10278-015-9799-z
Buro J. App review series: Ctisus iPearls. J Digit Imaging. 2018;31(6):761-764. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10278-018-0103-x
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All authors contributed equally to the writing of this manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Take-home Points
• With more than 200,000 applications (apps) for education available in the Apple App Store, we can infer that many smartphone owners use their devices to learn.
• Several surveys of medical students reveal that apps do indeed enhance clinical knowledge and provide comparable training with textbooks
• Generating apps for radiology can play an important role in continuing education.
• Once you decide to embark on creating a radiology app, it is important to plan on marketing your new app and using analytics to assess how the app is performing.
• Using apps for radiology can help expand the reach of one’s educational community by making useful content available on mobile devices, which are available without geographic or physical boundaries.
Summary Sentence
We launched our first iOS radiology app in 2010 and now have 17 apps available for free on the App Store; we present tips here on how to successfully develop apps for radiology education.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kauffman, L., Raminpour, S., Weisberg, E.M. et al. So You Want to Develop an App for Radiology Education? What You Need to Know to Be Successful. J Digit Imaging 33, 1058–1064 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10278-020-00345-x
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10278-020-00345-x