When I use a word . . . Medical emoticons

Emojis are being increasingly used as shorthand in medical records, according to a recent study from the USA. The 50 most frequently used emojis included 12 different varieties of smiley, most commonly the typical original smiling face with smiling eyes, 14 representations of books and different types of equipment, including stethoscopes, test tubes, and laptops, and nine representations of people or body parts, including eyes, the brain, and fingers. However, there was only one representation of a medicine, a capsule called “pill,” presumably indicating medicines that can be swallowed, and no sublingual tablets, transdermal patches, inhalers, syringes, or infusion equipment. Eye drops, ear drops, and nose drops may have been represented by an emoji called “droplet.” No emojis representing symptoms or diseases featured among the 50 most frequently used emojis, prompting me to suggest 36 examples of new medical emoticons that might be used as symbols for those.