Systems and Methods for Using Online Resources to Design a Clinical Study and Recruit Participants
First Claim
1. A method for identifying one or more online communities comprising discussions related to patients use of a predetermined drug, the method comprising:
- (a) determining, by a device, a plurality of keywords corresponding to a predetermined drug and use of the predetermined drug;
(b) obtaining, by the device, a list of web sites that have one or more online communities comprising discussions generated from web site users about use of one or more drugs;
(c) crawling, by the device, each web site in the list of web sites to match discussions among users within each web site to the plurality of keywords corresponding to the predetermined drug and use of the predetermined drug; and
(d) identifying, by the device, one or more online communities from the list of web sites that have patient generated discussions corresponding to the predetermined drug and the use of the predetermined drug.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present application is directed to methods and systems for tapping online resources to design a clinical trial and/or recruit participants for the clinical trial. In one embodiment, a system for using online resources to design a clinical trial and/or recruit participants includes one or more web crawlers. Each of the web crawler may be configured to collect data related to one or more specified topics during a community identification phase. A data engine of the system processes the collected data into filtered, relevant information that identifies communities of individuals suitable for recruitment. A patient discovery module may, in a patient discovery phase, develop or use a survey to further target interested patients for recruitment and collect information for designing a suitable study or trial. The system may, in an assessment and communication phase, design a study which may be self-managed by the recruited patients. The study may provide feedback for refining or modifying any one of the above phases. The study may also aim to address certain issues faced by the recruited patients, such as ensuring compliant use of a drug, elimination of side-effects, and using a modified therapy to improve the effectiveness of a drug, etc.
83 Citations
33 Claims
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1. A method for identifying one or more online communities comprising discussions related to patients use of a predetermined drug, the method comprising:
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(a) determining, by a device, a plurality of keywords corresponding to a predetermined drug and use of the predetermined drug; (b) obtaining, by the device, a list of web sites that have one or more online communities comprising discussions generated from web site users about use of one or more drugs; (c) crawling, by the device, each web site in the list of web sites to match discussions among users within each web site to the plurality of keywords corresponding to the predetermined drug and use of the predetermined drug; and (d) identifying, by the device, one or more online communities from the list of web sites that have patient generated discussions corresponding to the predetermined drug and the use of the predetermined drug. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for providing a survey based on online community discussions relevant to use of a predetermined drug, the method comprising:
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(a) identifying, by a device, a plurality of patients who are users at one or more online communities and provided patient generated discussions about one or more sides effects from use of a predetermined drug; (b) generating, via the device, a survey based on the plurality of patients discussions, generated online at the one or more online communities, on use of the predetermined drug; (c) communicating, by the device, a solicitation to the plurality of patients to participate in the survey; and (d) receiving, by the device responsive to the survey, data on the predetermined drug from patients participating in the survey. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method for providing for a drug assessment based on information from patients in online communities, the method comprising:
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(a) identifying, by a device, patients from an online survey that indicated interest in participating in an assessment of a predetermined drug; (b) selecting, via the device based on results from the online survey, the plurality of patients with a predetermined diagnosis and a predetermined side-effect; (c) generating, via the device, a protocol for the assessment of the predetermined drug based on data collected from the online survey; (d) communicating, by the device, the protocol to the selected plurality of patients participating in the assessment; and (e) receiving, by the device, from the selected plurality of patients information on compliance to the protocol and symptom relief from the predetermined side-effect. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification