ResearchKit
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Apple helped Stanford create a COVID-19 screening app for first responders
With some help from Apple, Stanford Medicine has released an app that can connect first responders in California with COVID-19 testing.
Apple Watch can now be used to monitor Parkinson’s symptoms
Apple has added a new API to its ResearchKit framework that will allow apps to monitor Watch users for signs of Parkinson's disease, 9to5Mac reports. The API will be able to track two symptoms associated with the movement disorder -- tremors and dyskinesia -- continuously throughout the day. Apps monitoring these two activities would then be able to display the recorded data, showing instances of the symptoms per day, hour or minute.
Apple entices its first big drug company to ResearchKit
Although Apple's ResearchKit is almost two years old, the platform has mainly been reserved for clinical studies hosted by universities and medical researchers. Hundreds of thousands of people are already contributing data for studies focusing on asthma, diabetes, breast cancer, autism, epilepsy and melanoma, but now drugmakers are getting in on the act. Almost a year after it said it was readying studies using Apple's health data-collecting tool, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has confirmed the launch of a new research app to help monitor patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
Use Feverprints to better understand your body temperature
The Apple Health app will autonomously track your steps and other wellness data, sure, but Boston Children's Hospital wants its iOS app Feverprints to help you keep an eye on something else throughout the day: your temperature. What Feverprints hopes to achieve by using vast amounts of anonymized data is gaining a better idea of what the normal range of temperatures for a human is, at different times through the day. This could eventually lead to better care and diagnoses of fevers. Simply judging your readings against the standard 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit and calling it good doesn't quite cut it when that temperature isn't the baseline for everyone.
Apple's CareKit helps patients better manage their illnesses
During its "Loop You In" event today, Apple revealed a new way for people -- and their doctors -- to better manage their health. Building off of its successful ResearchKit program, the company debuted CareKit, what Apple COO Jeff Williams described as "a framework to build apps that empower people to use data to understand their health."
IBM's iOS sleep-tracking app is powered by Watson
Are your poor sleeping habits messing up your day-to-day life? If you own an Apple Watch or iPhone, you can find out with the SleepHealth app from IBM Watson. The app is the first for IBM's Health Cloud, a program it launched last year with Apple and Johnson & Johnson. The idea of the program is to collect data for users, researchers and doctors using Apple's open-source ResearchKit and the sensors in iOS devices. SleepHealth, which IBM is doing with the American Sleep Apnea Association, is aimed at studying how sleep quality affects productivity, alertness, medical issues and overall health.
Apple introduces ResearchKit apps for autism, melanoma and epilepsy
Apple wanted to make data gathering easier for medical researchers with ResearchKit. According to the company, since the launch of the open-source platform earlier this year, over 100,000 participants have already shared their health data with a host of apps that study asthma, diabetes, breast cancer and more. The Kit's ever-increasing list of studies will now include autism, epilepsy and melanoma.
Cardiovascular health app is the UK's first ResearchKit project
One of the first health apps built with Apple's ResearchKit platform is now available to download outside the US. MyHeart Counts, which was first announced at Apple's "Spring Forward" event in March, has been opened up to iPhone users in the UK and Hong Kong for the first time. Once you've opted in, you'll be asked every few months to take part in a weeklong test, which includes seven days of activity monitoring, a 6-minute walk and a submission of personal risk-factor information. Stanford University will offer a review of your heart's health in return, as well as some advice for improving general wellness, but the idea here is to make it as easy as possible to become a volunteer. ResearchKit was, after all, invented to help scientists and medical professionals conduct large-scale studies. There are over one billion iOS devices in the world, so if even a fraction of those take some time to use the app, that's a trove of new information that will benefit medical research.
Apple reportedly wants to help test your DNA
Now that Apple has launched a platform for medical research, it's apparently ready to expand what that platform can do. MIT's sources understand that the Cupertino crew is working with academics on ResearchKit apps that let iPhone users get DNA tests. Apple wouldn't directly scoop up DNA, as you might imagine -- rather, it would make it easier for you to collect genes and share them with scholars. You could see some findings within the app, too, so you might know whether or not a condition is genetic.
Apple's ResearchKit is now open to medical researchers
ResearchKit, Apple's open-source initiative to transform iDevices into medical diagnostic tools, is now available to researchers so they can create their own apps. ResearchKit launched with apps aimed at studying asthma, breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and Parkinson's disease, but now scientists can develop programs that gather information about other medical conditions. Tens of thousands of users have already submitted data to ResearchKit, including 11,000 to a Stanford University cardiovascular trial in the app's first day. The raw data and interest is there, though the quality of the information sent via ResearchKit is still up in the air, for now.
IBM's cognitive computer will help solve your health problems
Just because you can collect a lot of information about your health doesn't mean that you can easily make sense of it. How do you connect the dots between, say, your smartwatch and your medical records? IBM thinks it has the answer: it's launching Watson Health Cloud, a platform that uses the company's cognitive computer system to help companies and doctors make decisions based on data that might otherwise prove daunting. They could recommend a change in your prescription, for example, or outline your surgery recovery plans.
Apple's medical research kit gets thousands of sign-ups (and concerns)
Apple built its ResearchKit platform in part to get many more people signing up for medical studies, and it appears to be delivering on that promise in spades. The early partners tell Bloomberg that they got thousands of volunteers within a day of launch, including 11,000 for a Stanford University cardiovascular trial -- for context, Stanford says that it would normally take a national year-long effort to get that kind of scale. The flood of data will theoretically improve the quality of the findings, especially since the automatic, phone-based tracking should prevent people from fibbing about their activity levels.
Watch the replay of Apple's 'spring forward' event
Were you stuck at work when Apple kicked off its "spring forward" event and missed out on the whole shebang? Relax. As is its custom, Cupertino has posted a replay of the event so that you can tune in on your own terms. Just make sure you have a good hour and a half if you're bent on seeing the whole thing. Apple had a lot on its slate at this presentation, including Apple Watch launch details, medical research and even a shiny new MacBook.
Apple wants your iPhone to double as a medical device
Apple's taking another step in its ongoing effort to make its iDevices more friendly to medical professionals. "ResearchKit" was introduced this morning in a San Francisco event by Senior VP of operations Jeff Williams; he calls it, "a software framework made specifically for medical research." More specifically, ResearchKit is a solution for making iOS devices with HealthKit into "powerful tools for diagnosis." The long and short is ResearchKit is intended to make medical diagnosis apps easier to create by medical professionals. A handful of apps were shown off that help with diagnosis of a range of conditions, from Parkinson's to breast cancer. The data collected by these apps, which Apple says it won't see and you can opt out of sharing, can be used for enormous research projects.
