Insight Heart is a medical education app that uses augmented reality (AR) to create a model of a beating human heart. It stole the limelight at the Exponential Medicine summit in Coronado, USA, and for good reason.
A perfect blend of tech, design and science
The app was released back in 2018 by Anima Res – a German company with experience in producing AR experiences. Once the app launches, the hologram of a human heart appears. We have to point out the painstaking attention to detail – this heart could easily be used for anatomy lessons.
Insight Heart: a valuable teaching tool
Users can choose four different scenarios: normal heart rhythm, myocardial infarction, arterial hypertension and atrial fibrillation. This choice of conditions is deliberate – at least 50% of the population will suffer from one of them in the future. A pre-recorded assistant, called Ani, provides users with information for each scenario. Clinicians may find them too basic, but laypeople can learn a lot. This means that this app could serve well as patient education material. That said, all doctors will find Insight Heart amusing, while many will find benefit in better visualising their theoretical knowledge.
A revolution for anatomy course?
Insight Heart is capable of changing the way we teach patients and doctors alike – but it needs some proofreading first. As an example, the atria appear to contract during atrial fibrillation. This is wrong. Simple oversights like this are easy to solve: doctors need to have an active role in app development.
Our verdict for Insight Heart
Heart Insight is proof-of-concept. It proved that the technology exists for medical-grade depictions of the human body (we’ve seen this before). While we are eager to see where this path leads, even this somewhat basic app can prove really useful. For anyone that is curious about the human heart and its most common ilnesses, the few dollars’ cost of the app is worth it.
Brought to you by the Fantastrial team.
Insight Heart is available for Android and iOS for $2.49.