Apple making ResearchKit platform available to developers

PanARMENIAN.Net - Apple is making its ResearchKit platform available to researchers and developers for the first time, Digital Spy reports.

The tool was announced in March as a framework that draws in data from a range of medical apps to organise and collate it in one place.

Researchers can input data manually or have ResearchKit extract it automatically from the software they are using.

The first batch of apps studied asthma, breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and Parkinson's disease, and enrolled more than 60,000 iPhone users in the first few weeks of its launch.

Opening up ResearchKit will enable medical researchers to develop their own apps, while developers can also contribute new research modules to the open source framework.

With permission from the participant, ResearchKit apps can access and use data from the Health app in relation to areas such as weight, blood pressure, glucose levels and asthma inhaler use, which are measured by third-party devices and apps.

"We are delighted and encouraged by the response to ResearchKit from the medical and research community and the participants contributing to medical research," said Jeff Williams, Apple's senior vice president of Operations.

"Studies that historically attracted a few hundred participants are now attracting participants in the tens of thousands.

"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."

ResearchKit apps are available on the App Store in the US only initially and will be rolling out to more countries in the future.