Medical researchers now have the power to recruit anyone with an iPhone for their studies.
Apple fulfilled its promise on Tuesday to release an open source version of its new medical research platform, ResearchKit, which lets iPhone users contribute to science by simply downloading an app. The company unveiled ResearchKit last month with five apps focused on everything from asthma to cardiovascular health. Now that Apple has opened up the software, all medical researchers will be able to tap into the platform to create their own apps, the company announced Tuesday.
Researchers told the Mercury News last month that ResearchKit could be a boon to studies by easing the problems of recruitment and retention. Jeff Williams, Apple’s senior vice president of Operations, suggested the software is already delivering on its promise.
“Studies that historically attracted a few hundred participants are now attracting participants in the tens of thousands,” Williams said in a statement. “Medical researchers all over the world are actively exploring how ResearchKit can help them study even more diseases, and we believe the impact on global understanding of health and wellness will be profound.”
For example, an app from Mount Sinai focused on asthma now has about 6,000 active users, said Corey Bridges, CEO of LifeMap Solutions, a mobile health company that helped develop the app.
“That may sound small from a certain perspective, if you’re comparing it to Angry Birds,” he said. “But if you compare it to existing asthma studies, it’s at least an order of magnitude larger than most of those.”
And so far, the asthma app’s retention figures are measuring up well even by the standards of highly addictive video games, Bridges said. He suggested that the prospect of giving back is motivating patients to stick with the app, which gives them insight into their condition and helps them manage their treatment.
“I think people want to give meaning to their suffering,” Bridges said. “People are saying, ‘I’ve got asthma, and that sucks. But I can be part of this study and help make the world better for all asthma sufferers.'”
Above: Apple has opened up access to its ResearchKit platform, which lets researchers create apps to use the iPhone in their studies (Getty Images).