Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is one of those diseases that people need to know more about. There are currently about 30,000 people living with Cystic Fibrosis in the United States alone, and 1,000 new cases of CF are diagnosed in the country each year. Additionally, stats show that CF is underdiagnosed (especially in Asia). Remember, CF is not yet a curable disease, only a manageable one. The median age of survival is currently 33.4 years. Advancements in treatment now allow some patients to live into their fifties or sixties and this is a great improvement from times when a CF patient was not expected to reach adulthood.
When we heard about Invivo Communications Inc.’s app name, The Cystic Fibrosis-CRISPR HoloLens Full Educational Experience, we thought WOW, that is a bold claim. We didn’t know whether to think this would be just some cool holograms or if it would really be ‘a full educational experience.’ Well, we think the app is pretty well named! It provides a great social service as much as it provides a great educational experience. It’s a good social service because it is vitally important that everyone knows more about this disease, the more awareness a really cool app like this can create, the more likely the disease may come to someone’s attention who just might have the ability to do something to help, even if it’s just a small thing like donating a small amount to the cause. Also, it’s a good educational app, because it is important that medical students learn more about this disease, as it is more widespread than they might think and it just could come up in their future practice and quicker diagnoses can lead to more effective treatments. When you put something this cool and educational on a mighty emerging platform like the Microsoft HoloLens, it has the potential to open thousands of doors for great things to happen. Watch Invivo’s video about this app here or here.
The Cystic Fibrosis-CRISPR HoloLens Experience Trailer from INVIVO Communications on Vimeo.
The Cystic Fibrosis-CRISPR HoloLens Full Educational Experience has a cool vibe. It really puts CF on the center stage, and makes you want to learn everything about it and even better, it teaches you in a fun and engaging way; as it delves into anatomy, physiology, pathology and diagnostic tests. It even gives you the option to decide if you want an easy or technical explanations. Certainly, it’s easier to make apps much more inviting and interesting on this wonderful platform, and the guys at Invivo, a digital healthcare company in Toronto, Canada, are paving the way as pioneers in building the right way to deliver a virtual class.
Allow yourself to think about the educational possibilities apps like this highlight. Imagine being able to review all of your classes in a compelling, engaging and fun way that can be adapted to your way of learning. Who wouldn’t want to have a class like this for a subject as mundane as Geometry or for something as complex as the Krebs cycle, or anything in between? Awesome! Sometimes educational apps are displaced by more technical, more “real world” apps, but Invivo, with The Cystic Fibrosis-CRISPR HoloLens Full Educational Experience gives us the opportunity to dream about how much more practical and fun, medical education can be in the future. Let us know what you think about it on the comment section!!
DON’T FORGET – YOU CAN HELP FIGHT CYSTIC FIBROSIS!
Sources: Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Cystic Fibrosis News Today, Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Invivo Communications Inc., The Cystic Fibrosis-CRISPR HoloLens Full Educational Experience – app (here or here), National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
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