- Posted By: Tim Cranston
Apple announced on Monday that it is releasing a software based product that will allow participation and data collection for clinical studies via their mobile devices (iPhone, iPad and soon AppleWatch).
‘ResearchKit’ is an open source framework that will help medical researchers to more easily design apps* for clinical studies, regardless of platform. We are told that it can be used to:
- Improve and enable participants to consent to and join studies from their mobile device (signed consent can be collect via the app by signing your name on the touch screen).
- With consent, data can be automatically collected from participants as people go about their day (Data can be collected using the built in sensors on the mobile device, something already done by existing apps such as Apple's HealthKit).
The idea being that it’s easier to participate, and results are more objective and precise.
"Hundreds of millions of people around the world have an iPhone in their pocket. Each one is equipped with powerful processors and advanced sensors that can track movement, take measurements, and record information — functions that are perfect for medical studies. The sheer number of them being used across the globe opens up new possibilities for researchers. With ResearchKit, researchers can easily create apps that take advantage of iPhone features to gather new types of data on a scale never available before.”
Apple Inc.
Currently 5 ResearchKit apps have been created and are in use:
- Asthma Health: Helping asthma sufferers breathe more easily.
- mPower: Helping decipher Parkinson’s disease.
- GlucoSuccess: Keeping tabs to keep diabetes in check.
- Share the Journey: Follows the post-treatment journey of breast cancer patients.
- MyHeart Counts: Assesses the risks of cardiovascular disease.
Clearly beneath the veneer of very slick marketing many questions and issues will be raised and need to be answered about ResearchKit, but surely this a step (leap) in the right direction...?
ResearchKit is available from next month.
ResearchKit’s homepage is: https://www.apple.com/researchkit.
To view the ResearchKit featured in Apple’s Keynote Presentation watch the presentation via http://www.apple.com/live/2015-mar-event/ between the time-points 15min 40 seconds and 28mins 20 seconds.
*Apps are applications that mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets utilise.