Cardiology, Educational iPad App
Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Flash, ActionScript 3, and Adobe Air
As my MScBMC Master's Research Project, I developed a prototype iPad learning app. I took on multiple roles in this project including illustrator, animator, UX designer, and programmer. My background in physiology was critical in understanding the content provided by the medical experts. This did not only aid in communicating with the experts, but also allowed me to contribute novel ideas to the app. The prototype is fully functional and was created in collaboration with cardiologists at McMaster University. It focuses on teaching normal cardiac physiology and a single cardiac pathology, aortic stenosis, to medical students.
As cardiology requires a strong knowledge of the timing of cardiac events, syncing of animation, physical exam video, and medical imaging with medical data was a key strategy for aiding students' understanding. In particular, the project sought to build an overall picture of the patient by educating the user on how cardiac physiology can manifest in both the patient exam and in advanced medical imaging technologies. In the future, modules for other cardiac pathologies will be developed in addition to aortic stenosis.
The app is an e-textbook supplemented by a collection of interactive "widgets" that explore the cardiological concepts in detail. These widgets incorporate a combination of animation, physical exam video, medical imaging, and medical data.
This project was genorously funded by McMaster University and the UofT Open Fellowship Award. Special thanks to my supervisor Prof. Michael Corrin, second voting member Prof. Marc Dryer, and to the team of cardiologists at McMaster University: Dr. Nicholas Valettas, Dr. Omid Salehian, Dr. Jeremy Cohen, and Dr. Michael Tsang. Additional thanks to the BMC faculty and students, as well as friends, family and Joeann for their support and feedback.
