Radiologists can accurately diagnose acute appendicitis from a remote location with the use of a handheld device or mobile phone equipped with special software, according to a study presented last fall at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). A physician in the division of neuroradiology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore presented results from a study that found that radiologists were able to correctly diagnose appendicitis using an iPhone 3G equipped with OsiriX Mobile medical imaging viewing software. Fifteen of the 25 patients were correctly identified as having acute appendicitis on 74 of 75 (99 percent) interpretations with one false negative. There were no false positive readings. The iPhone interpretations of the CT scans were as accurate as the interpretations viewed on dedicated picture-archiving and communication system (PACS) workstations according to the study’s author. The $20 application is far cheaper than most imaging software. However, physicians and hospitals will likely be reluctant to use mobile software until they feel confident that it is comparable to traditional alternatives when it comes to security and quality. Patients with smart phones could also download the software and potentially carry around a library of their personal medical images.