Tripathi Manjul, Deo Rama Chandra, Srivastav Vinkle, Baby Britty, Singh Ramandeep, Damodaran Natesan, Suri Ashish
All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Department of Neurosurgery, New Delhi, India.
Turk Neurosurg. 2014;24(6):828-38. doi: 10.5137/1019-5149.JTN.11840-14.0.
The utilization of technology for purpose of imparting knowledge, especially in high-end branches like neurosurgery, has gained prominence in the contemporary academic scenario. The technological advancements have brought about outstanding transformation to education and patient care. The connectivity through smartphone applications (apps) has transcended the spatial and temporal limitations, thereby enabling easy access to virtually infinite storehouse of knowledge. Although there are numerous neurosurgery related apps, yet there is still a dearth of quality apps that may serve the purpose.
Relevant apps were searched and evaluated on PlayStore and Apple App store, based on their content, user interface, performance, and utility in routine practice and compared with their cost, size and popularity. They were categorized into apps related to textbooks, scoring systems, patient education, operative procedures, blogs, journals, conferences and promotional.
159 relevant apps were hosted on App stores; 54.7% apps were free of cost. "Neuromind" was the most downloaded app because of its simplicity, free access and applicability. Students and practitioners prefer various apps linked to scoring systems, textbooks and operative illustrations. Apps have helped patients in better understanding of their diseases and management options.
Development of web-based technologies has divided medical professionals into traditional and modernized learners. Mobile apps permit knowledge to be structured visually to facilitate its easy diffusion in the peer community. A technologically demanding branch like Neurosurgery inevitably needs innovative, cost effective apps with trust worthy content. Relevant apps have a high potential to be used as an excellent resource for effectual neurosurgical education beyond the limitations of time and place.
在当代学术环境中，利用技术传授知识，尤其是在神经外科等高端领域，已变得日益重要。技术进步给教育和患者护理带来了显著变革。通过智能手机应用程序（应用）实现的连接跨越了时空限制，从而能够轻松访问几乎无限的知识宝库。尽管有众多与神经外科相关的应用，但仍缺乏能满足需求的高质量应用。
在谷歌应用商店和苹果应用商店搜索并评估相关应用，依据其内容、用户界面、性能、在常规实践中的实用性，并与其成本、大小和受欢迎程度进行比较。它们被分为与教科书、评分系统、患者教育、手术操作、博客、期刊、会议及宣传相关的应用。
应用商店中有159个相关应用；54.7%的应用是免费的。“Neuromind”是下载量最高的应用，因其简单、免费且适用。学生和从业者更喜欢与评分系统、教科书及手术插图相关的各类应用。应用有助于患者更好地了解自身疾病及治疗选择。
基于网络的技术发展将医学专业人员分为传统学习者和现代化学习者。移动应用允许以可视化方式构建知识，便于在同行群体中轻松传播。像神经外科这样对技术要求较高的领域不可避免地需要具有可靠内容的创新且经济高效的应用。相关应用有很大潜力成为超越时间和地点限制的有效神经外科教育的优质资源。
