Medical Software - Classification of Medical Software

Classification of Medical Software

Medical Software could be classified simply into the following groups, depending on its use. This is called utilitarian classification by Harry Gouvas 1988, but sometimes there are overlaps:

• (I) Educational Medical Software (Educational Medical Software, EMS): (Ia): Built-in Device and (Ib): Not built-in appliances.
• (II) Medical Diagnostic Software (Diagnostic Medical Software, DMS): (IIa): Built-in Device and (IIb): Not built-in appliances.
• (III) Therapeutic Medical Software (Therapeutic Medical Software, TMS): (IIIa): Built-in Device and (IIIb): Not built-in appliances.
• (IV) Medical Design Software (Design Medical Software, DEMS): (IVa): Built-in Device and (IVb): Not built-in appliances.

Examples: A program that monitors and shows the heart rate, blood pressure and blood oxygen, a monitor, is the built-in diagnostic software, Category IIa. A free medical program called e.g. "Infection" that accepts symptoms and makes diagnosis of infection, belongs to the Ib. A program for example the "Scan" which is loaded on a CT scanner and processed by the X-ray signal, to reproduce the picture, belongs to a class IIa. A program e.g. the "Press" built in "chip" a digital sphygmomanometer, belongs to a class IIa. A program example in "Coral" of a company that manufactures total hip and Freedoms (PC designer) belongs to the class IVb, while the program e.g. the "Coral-CAD" embedded in machines for cutting and construction of intentional belongs to IVa. The software that controls the machine Laser Surgeons in patients with myopia automatically belongs to the class IIIa. As noted above there may be overlaps. This is particularly true in the category (I). A medical education program, might well have as its object to diagnose or treat disease.