iOrtho+

This application is a great musculoskeletal resource that provides instructions, visuals, psychometrics, references, and videos for most orthopedic special tests for physical therapists.  This is a great resource for students or for clinicians to reference quickly.  There is a free trial available with limited joints, but the complete application with all 325 special tests and 88 joint mobilizations is available for for $14.99 on the apple app store and android.

Systems:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/iortho+/id433505647?mt=8

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.accella.iorthoandroid_free&hl=en

Human Anatomy Atlas by Visible Body does not offer moving demonstrations of muscle actions, however, it has extremely detailed anatomic structures of the following systems: skeletal, nervous, cardiac, pulmonary, muscular, GI, renal, lymphatic, reproductive, arterial/venous, etc. 

Systems:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/human-anatomy-atlas/id446207961?mt=8

http://www.visiblebody.com/atlas_android_overview/

Muscle premium by visible body is a fantastic application available on Mac and Windows desktop, iPad, Windows touch iPhone, and Android.  The application is fantastic for physical therapy students, clinicians, and great for patient education.  It is a fantastic 3D tool for visualizing muscle actions and is like having a digital cadaver and skeleton available at all times.  It includes:

•  600+ muscles, 200+ bones, hundreds of peripheral nerves, ligaments, and bursae
• Pronunciations and definitions for all structures, including details on blood supply and innervation
• Over 1,000 pins and a painted skeleton that reveal points and surface areas of muscle attachments
• Muscle Actions section with hundreds of moving muscles organized into dozens of common actions
• Quiz section with 50 quizzes and 465 questions
• Dynamic search capability, drawing, and screenshot capture

Systems:

http://www.visiblebody.com/muscular_overview/

http://www.visiblebody.com/muscle_android_overview/

The clinical pattern recognition app is designed for new clinicians to help them develop and sustain patterns and models of diagnoses and treatments within the clinic. The app has special test descriptions and videos, and also has research to help teach pathology. There are currently apps for low back, hip and thigh, knee, and ankle and foot. In the future, there will also be apps for neck and thorax, shoulder, elbow, and wrist and hand.

Systems:

http://www.clinicalpatternrecognition.com/

This month's featured application is excellent for those in the vestibular field. It is called aVOR, and is mainly a patient education app. It shows what occurs when there is a dysfunction in the vestibular system, and also explains how treatment works. There are plenty of settings to adjust for varying diagnoses, and it even has translations into several languages. Unfortunately it is only available for Apple products at this time.

Systems:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/avor/id497245573?mt=8

Cookie Doodle allows you to make and decorate cookies. Fine motor skills, and multi-tasking are just two skills that can be worked on with this application. It is a game, and that's the point! Patients will get lost in the world of sprinkles and frosting, and forget that they're practicing functional skills. It's excellent to use with both younger patients, and those patients that are young at heart. Plus, who doesn't love cookies?

Systems:

https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=342128086&mt=8

http://www.ollapp.com/app/cookie-doodle/android

Super Stretch Yoga is an app which is only available for iPad, but given the characteristics of this app, I wanted to highlight it. This app is excellent for pediatric physical therapist, and allows them to teach their clients and patients the benefits of stretching and exercise. Several beginner yoga poses are featured, and the illustrations show that it’s okay to not always have the best balance.

Namaste.

Systems:

As physical therapy professionals, we have a duty to our patients, to ensure that the care they are receiving is of the highest quality. While treating and evaluating patients is something that we do on a daily basis and are quite adept at, being aware of our patients medications and potential side effects or interactions with exercise is something that I know I, personally, can be better at. Epocrates is a free app (both iOS and Android) that can help to fill this knowledge gap. It has a database of thousands of drugs with a multitude of information on each one. It can be extremely useful when identifying a patient's symptoms that just don't quite match up with their diagnosis. This app can be a great way to connect with your patients and to help them learn about the medications that they are taking.

Systems:

iOS https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/epocrates/id281935788?mt=8

Android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.epocrates&hl=en ​

Okay, so this isn't exactly an app - but I would be remiss if I didn't feature this. The APTA recently released the Guide to Physical Therapy Practice 3.0. This new version includes clinical updates and revisions to the 2nd edition. Gone are the days when you had to refer to a bulk old book. The Guide 3.0 is now available in digital format online! The online guide is freely accessible for APTA members. The Guide is an excellent source for current clinicians, and students alike, to refer to a multitude of information that can be used to ensure stellar patient outcomes.

Systems:

Ubersense is an app that is part video analysis, part patient educational tool. Ubersense allows you to take video of your patient while performing a task. You then can slow down the video for analysis, and draw on the screen for patient education. The ability to save these videos for later sessions is available as well. This is an app that is excellent for gain and running analysis in the clinic.

Systems:

iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-translate/id414706506?mt=8

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ubersense.app.production