Apple’s ResearchKit revolutionises medicine

ResearchKit was unveiled by Apple on March 9 and could transform how medical data is collected. The open source software, which is available for download via apps on the iPhone, allows medical research professionals to gather far more diverse and recurrent statistics. Various leading institutions such as Oxford University, Stanford Medicine and the American Heart Foundation have already developed custom apps in order to carry out studies using ResearchKit.

More funds can be spent on analysing the data collected, rather than on collecting the data itself

“Numbers are everything. The more people who contribute their data, the bigger the numbers, the truer the representation of a population, and the more powerful the results. A research platform that allows large amounts of data to be collected and shared — that can only be a positive thing for medical research”, says Dr Eduardo Sanchez, Deputy Chief Medical Officer of the American Heart Association on the Apple website.

With their consent – a simple signature entry – individuals who suffer from afflictions such as diabetes, heart disease, Parkinson’s, breast cancer and asthma, can use their iPhones to complete surveys and activities in order to provide more robust data to medical practitioners. Vital statistics, such as blood pressure, glucose and fitness levels, as well as speech, memory and motor capabilities, can be measured with sophisticated sensors on a daily basis. And all of this can be achieved on a device that users already carry around with them everywhere they go, meaning that information can be collected more frequently and accurately than the traditional format of medical studies could ever allow. The cost savings are also a vital aspect for the research facilities involved, as more funds can be spent on analysing the data collected, rather than on collecting the data itself.

“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. ResearchKit gives the scientific community access to a diverse, global population and more ways to collect data than ever before”, said Jeff Williams, Senior Vice President of Operations at Apple in a company press release.

With such wide ranging benefits for the medical industry, it seems logical that many other research institutions will also develop their own apps for this new form of data collection, while other smartphone developers and software apps are surely to follow suit too. The possibilities for a tool of this kind are endless; making this a pivotal point in the field of medical research.