For many things in , such as cell phones and voice-activated computers, art became reality -- and it's happening again. In this case, our "medical telemetry devices" are devices that are with us as much as those fictional Starfleet scanners were with Admiral Kirk and his crew: the near-ubiquitous smartphone.

The explosive rise of medical applications that run on smartphones and tablets has been noted by the medical profession for some time. Indeed, health care professionals are behind much of the innovation occurring with medical apps, as they seize the opportunity to build tools they can use on their iOS and Android devices.

But just as all new waves of technology bring with them room for growth and innovation, there are also risks that must be mitigated as well. And with medical apps, the risk isn't just a crashed app or lost data -- it can also be a human life.