Introduction to the Technology Application
Apple Inc. gained quick popularity because of
its iPhone series, which has now become a must part of our daily lives. The
iPhone has an excellent camera and plenty of characteristics to amaze the
target audience (2015). However, it is good for nothing when it comes to
talking about its applications and uses in the medical sciences. In order to
facilitate doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals, Apple Inc.
presented a new technology called ResearchKit. For the first time, Apple’s
ResearchKit has brought medical professionals and patients together in
advancing medical research. This is basically an open-source technology
application that allows doctors and nurses to conduct medical research and
create effective diagnostic and treatment plans. By touching the tap into the
screen or accelerometer on an iPhone, the user can adjust its settings, change
the mode and enhance its performance to an extent.
The Target Population
ResearchKit and other similar apps are
specially made for nurses and doctors working in private clinics and government
hospitals (Chan et al., 2017). Some of the major things this technology app can
do are measuring hand trembling and determining the quality of voice of the
patient. Not only doctors and nurses, but also patients can use this
application to determine their heart rate. While using ResearchKit, the patient
can easily share his diagnostic information or details about medicines with the
doctor or nurse in order to seek their help and guidance regarding further
treatment.
Strengths and Weaknesses of the System
One of the core strengths of ResearchKit is
that this application can be installed on any mobile device and even on a
personal computer or tablet (Webster, et al., 2017). Additionally, the
application can be incorporated with other medical apps in order to treat
patients in a better way. The major weaknesses of the system are that this
comes in paid version only, which means the hospital or independent healthcare
expert will first have to pay a hefty amount to unlock and access all of its
features and options.
Training Requirements
As ResearchKit is used in medical research,
the user (whether a patient, doctor or nurse) will have to receive the basic
training regarding how to install the application, how to use it, and how to
diagnose an illness and plan care using its varying options (Bot et al., 2016).
For instance, its Asthma Health app can be used to check the health condition
of a patient with asthma. Similarly, the Diabetes Diagnostic Option is used to
diagnose type I diabetes and type II diabetes.
Who Can Use This Technology?
In addition to nurses, doctors, and patients,
ResearchKit can be used by pharmacists, lab technicians, lab assistants,
surgeons and other individuals who are directly or indirectly involved in medical
research. Even the family of a patient can use ResearchKit to keep a record of
the medical history, to share details with the doctor on behalf of the patient,
and to receive updates on latest medicines and treatment options. Using
ResearchKit, it is easy to consult an internationally recognized consultant and
book an appointment without any need to leave the house.
Evaluating the Effectiveness of the
Application
The effectiveness of this technology
application can be evaluated in a number of ways. First of all, one of its
options can be used, such as the Asthma app, to see whether the settings have
been appropriately adjusted or not. Apple Inc. has provided its users with a
manual that is meant to see how to adjust every option or setting at a particular
stage (Pfiffner et al. 2016). For instance, if the user has to install the app
that helps check diabetes, then the manual can be consulted, and this will also
help evaluate the effectiveness and usefulness of ResearchKit.
Conclusion – Effects on Quality and Safety
Most recently, Apple Inc. provided its users
with an option to build their own small-scale applications with ResearchKit. It
means the technology an leave an everlasting impact on human health and may
help future doctors provide great care and assistance to the patients. For
example, an ordinary person who is unaware of medical terminologies and
concepts can still use ResearchKit to build his own application, and the same
application can be installed and shared on multiple devices, such as the smartphone,
computer system, laptop, and tablet. A person can easily download the trial
version from Google App Store or Apple’s local store, and once the time is
over, then he may not have access to its various options until or unless a fee
is not paid. It’s safe to say that ResearchKit can be used by almost all
individuals who have an interest in medical sciences or the ones who want to
receive or give quality care to the patient. In addition to ResearchKit, Apple
Inc. has presented HealthKit and CareKit, which can be used together to collect
data regarding the health status of a patient and to monitor him remotely. As
of now, America’s top surgeons and medical researchers, belonging to: Stanford
Medicine, Oxford, and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have tested this
application, and this may soon be launched in Asia and Africa.
References
ResearchKit: A clever tool to
gather clinical data. (2015). The Pharmaceutical Journal.
doi:10.1211/pj.2015.20068358
Chan, Y. Y., Wang, P., Rogers,
L., Tignor, N., Zweig, M., Hershman, S. G., . . . Schadt, E. E. (2017). The
Asthma Mobile Health Study, a large-scale clinical observational study using
ResearchKit. Nature Biotechnology, 35(4), 354-362.
doi:10.1038/nbt.3826
Webster, D. E., Suver, C.,
Doerr, M., Mounts, E., Domenico, L., Petrie, T., . . . Bot, B. M. (2017). The
Mole Mapper Study, mobile phone skin imaging and melanoma risk data collected
using ResearchKit. Scientific Data, 4, 170005.
doi:10.1038/sdata.2017.5
Bot, B. M., Suver, C., Neto,
E. C., Kellen, M., Klein, A., Bare, C., . . . Trister, A. D. (2016). The mPower
study, Parkinson disease mobile data collected using ResearchKit. Scientific
Data, 3, 160011. doi:10.1038/sdata.2016.11
Pfiffner, P. B., Pinyol, I.,
Natter, M. D., & Mandl, K. D. (2016). C3-PRO: Connecting ResearchKit to the
Health System Using i2b2 and FHIR. Plos One, 11(3).
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0152722
