A medical calculator is a type of medical
computer software
Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications.
The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...
, whose purpose is to allow easy calculation of various scores and indices, presenting the user with a friendly interface that hides the complexity of the formulas. Most offer further information such as result interpretation guides and medical literature references. Generally, such calculators are intended for use by health care professionals, and use by the general public maybe discouraged.
Medical calculators arose because modern
medicine
Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...
makes frequent use of scores and indices that put
physician
A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...
s' memory and calculation skills to the test.
[
] The advent of personal computers, the Internet and Web, and more recently
personal digital assistant
A personal digital assistant (PDA) is a multi-purpose mobile device which functions as a personal information manager. Following a boom in the 1990s and 2000s, PDAs were mostly displaced by the widespread adoption of more highly capable smar ...
s (PDAs) have formed an environment conducive to their development, spread and use.
Types
Online
Various websites, including
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free content, free Online content, online encyclopedia that is written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and the wiki software MediaWiki. Founded by Jimmy Wales and La ...
and
MDCalc
MDCalc is a free online medical reference for healthcare professionals that provides point-of-care clinical decision-support tools, including medical calculators, scoring systems, and algorithms.Ferng, A (2018)"Understanding and Creating Calcul ...
, are available that provide calculations from a browser based input form.
Hardware
Purpose-built devices for specific medical calculations are available from various commercial sources. There are two ways to make a calculator using an array that looks up an answer based on a large array of data or where the calculator computes the answer using a mathematical equation.
Apps
Software-based medical calculators are available for various platforms, including the
iPhone
The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...
and
Android. Handheld battery powered portable units are available and can be manufactured in smaller quantities than before thanks to OTP (one Time Programmable) chips.
References
{{reflist
Medical equipment
Medical software