ResearchKit to help research

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Continuation of our series of articles to explore GAFAM health projects (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft). Make way for Apple’s ResearchKit program.

With its various solutions developed (Apple Watch, ResearchKit, CareKit, etc.), Apple continues to develop in the healthcare market. President Tim Cook even believes that Apple " democratizes »Health facilities. " We give everyone the opportunity to manage their health. And we are only at the beginning. I truly believe that in the future, it will be said that Apple's most significant contribution to humanity will have been in health ", He insists.

For researchers, it is essential to understand a disease perfectly in order to be able to fight it effectively. ResearchKit was designed with this in mind. True open source software framework for the creation of apps, it facilitates the recruitment of study participants and the carrying out of these studies. Since its launch, the amount of data collected, and therefore the extent of the knowledge acquired, has broken all records.

With its many partnerships and almost unlimited funding capabilities, ResearchKit plays an increasing role in research on cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and autism.

One of the difficulties for researchers is to find volunteers to participate in the studies. As a result, the latter often only rely on a limited number of participants. But thanks to the sheer number of iPhone users around the world, apps built from ResearchKit help recruit candidates and collect data on a scale never seen before.

Information can be collected much more regularly (daily, even hourly) without hampering the daily lives of participants. The applications developed with ResearchKit have enabled healthcare establishments to recruit an unprecedented number of participants for their studies. The researchers were able to deepen their knowledge and establish correlations that they probably could not have highlighted before.

Today there are many applications made from ResearchKit. Some examples :

MPower app to better understand Parkinson's disease

Launched in 2015, the mPower app has recruited more than 10,000 participants to make it the largest study in history on Parkinson's disease. This app helps researchers better understand Parkinson's using the gyroscope and other iPhone features that assess dexterity, balance, pace and memory. Researchers have significantly refined their understanding of the positive or negative effect of factors such as sleep, physical activity and psychological state on the symptoms of the disease.

Autism & Beyond application to optimize the diagnosis of autism

Research has shown that early management of developmental problems in children can ultimately lead to higher IQs and better living in society. The Autism & Beyond app uses the iPhone's HD front camera and innovative facial recognition algorithms to analyze children's emotional reactions to videos (from the age of 18 months). Children can therefore be tested without having to travel to see a specialist, which allows early diagnosis and care. This app recruited more people in one month than a previous site survey for nine months.

EpiWatch application to predict epileptic seizures

With the Apple Watch, Apple wants to support researchers who want to give patients a way to anticipate their epilepsy attacks. Since its launch, the EpiWatch app allows people with epilepsy to accurately track the development and duration of their seizures in real time, by studying the correlation between seizure history and drug treatment. Patients who sense a crisis coming on launch the app by touching a specific complication on the Apple Watch face. The accelerometer and heart rate monitoring are then triggered, and an alert is automatically sent to a designated loved one or their doctor.

Other applications have been developed to conduct studies around sleep disorders, concussions, melanomas …

Source: Apple

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