Apple connection may be invaluable
Apple has released ResearchKit, an open-source software tool designed to give scientists a new way to gather information on patients by using their iPhones.
Several top research institutions have already developed applications to work on the ResearchKit platform, including those pursuing clinical studies on asthma, breast cancer, heart disease, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease. They include Stanford University School of Medicine and Weill Cornell Medical College.
The format will allow users to decide if they want to participate in a study and how their data is to be shared with researchers.
‘‘With hundreds of millions of iPhones in use around the world, we saw an opportunity for Apple to have an even greater impact by empowering people to participate in and contribute to medical research,’’ Apple’s senior vicepresident of operations, Jeff Williams, said. ‘‘ResearchKit gives the scientific community access to a diverse, global population and more ways to collect data than ever before.’’
The ResearchKit platform is designed to work hand in hand with Apple’s HealthKit software, which allows iPhones to work with health and fitness apps that gather information on weight, blood pressure, glucose levels and asthma inhaler use.
It allows researchers access to accelerometer, microphone, gyroscope and GPS sensors in the iPhone to gain insight into a patient’s gait, motor impairment, fitness, speech and memory.
The software is also designed to help researchers build more diverse study populations, which traditionally have been limited by physical proximity to large academic medical centres.
Study participants can complete tasks or submit surveys right from the app, so researchers spend less time on paperwork and more time analysing data.
ResearchKit also enables researchers to present an interactive informed consent process.
Users choose which studies to participate in and the data they want to provide.
One feature of the app is mPower which helps people living with Parkinson’s disease track their symptoms. This data is combined with other participants’ to help with Parkinson’s research.