There are some tools on the internet that just make things simpler, cleaner, and easier.

Think of how 1Password unlatches doors without a moment’s thought, or how AdBlock makes ads disappear, or how Evernote seamlessly helps stash things for later. These hacks make the web a friendlier, more useful place. They save time, but more importantly, they part the seas of inefficiency and distraction to make what we want to do a little easier.

Medical information is an obvious example of where it’s almost impossible not to get lost down a frustrating rabbit hole and spend tons more time reading about something than you should have to. So where’s the hack that makes medical jargon less, well, jargony? Sure, there are online dictionaries and Google, but shouldn’t it be easier to understand what the internet is trying to tell us about, say, a research study in the news or the condition your aunt was diagnosed with?

We think so. Which is why we’ve built Iodine’s Medical Translator, a new tool that automatically defines medical jargon on any web page you’re reading. The Medical Translator is a Chrome extension; once you add it, all you do is hover over the highlighted words or phrases to get a simple definition of the term written by our medical team. You don’t have to stop reading to look up words or open new tabs. And it works across the web, on any page with medical jargon.

Try it now

See it in action!

Questions you might have about the Iodine Medical Translator

Who should use the extension?
Our Medical Translator is a tool to help everyday people understand medical jargon on the web. If you’re a medical professional, you’ll probably find it a bit rudimentary.

How do I know if it’s working?
The Medical Translator only triggers on a page if it finds jargon that’s in our dictionary (otherwise, we leave you alone). When it finds jargon, you’ll see a grey bar at the top of your window and highlighted words on the page. See the extension in action on the Wikipedia page for hypertension (make sure to add the extension first).

Why isn’t ______ translated?
Our dictionary is a work in progress. If you come across a word you think we should add, send an email to team@iodine.com and let us know.

What about privacy?
We’ve built the Medical Translator with privacy in mind so that we (the humans at Iodine) can’t see your browser history or URLs, or anything from the websites you visit.

We think our Medical Translator makes the internet a little more friendly, and a little more useful for people. We’re eager to know what you think, too. Do our definitions do the trick?