Systems and Methods for Facilitating Health Research

• US 20160267238A1
• Filed: 02/09/2016
• Published: 09/15/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Nag, Divya
• Granted Patent: US 11,107,578 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 70/20 relating to practices or guidelines

Abstract

Methods and systems for facilitating health research through enhanced communication between research participants and researchers. Methods include communication of information related to a research study to a portable computing device of a research participant by use of an application framework and one or more modules. The one or more modules may be provided with the application framework or may include one or more modules from third-party researchers so as to allow standardization of communication from multiple research studies and differing research facilities.

Claims

1. A method for facilitating health research, the method comprising:

receiving, with a portable computing device, one or more modules relating to a health research study, the portable computing device associated with a user participating in the health research study;

displaying, on a graphical user interface of the portable computing device, a user instruction based on a respective module of the one or more modules;

receiving an input with the portable computing device in response to the instruction; and

outputting to a third party health researcher the input associated with the instruction of the one or more modules for use in health research relating to the study.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

de-identifying the user input from the user before outputting to the third party health researcher.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein health research comprises observational pre-clinical, clinical, or post-clinical studies for tele-monitoring research.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the input comprises a user input entered by the user on the graphical user interface of the device or an output of one or more sensors associated with the portable computing device.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the one or more sensors separate from the portable computing device include a wearable sensor device configured to detect a sensor parameter over a duration of time and transmit the detected sensor parameter to the portable computing device.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the one or more sensor devices detect any of:

activity level, activity tracking, respiration, body temperature, heart wellness data, hydration levels, perspiration, blood glucose, salinity, sleep cycles, posture, O2 levels, muscle engagement, or any combination thereof.

11. The method of claim 5, wherein receiving the input comprises receiving sensor data from the one or more sensors over a duration of time, wherein the sensor data comprises measuring a sensor parameter based on a user interaction.

12. The method of claim 5, wherein receiving the input comprises receiving sensor data from the one or more sensors over a duration of time, wherein receiving the sensor data comprises passively collecting sensor data from the one or more sensors without requiring user interaction.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the portable computing device includes a first-party application framework through which the one or more modules are communicated to the user with the portable computing device.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein a first set of modules of the one or more modules are first-party modules.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein a second set of modules of the one or more modules are third-party modules.

3. (canceled)

6. (canceled)

9-10. -10. (canceled)

16-58. -58. (canceled)

59. A system for facilitating health research, the system comprising:

a portable computing device operable by a user or an associated caretaker, the portable computing device including a wireless communication module for transmitting to and receiving data from a third-party researcher;

a processor of the portable computing device, the processor having a computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions configured for;

receiving one or more modules relating to a health research study;

displaying, on a graphical user interface of the portable computing device, a user instruction based on a respective module of the one or more modules;

receiving an input with the portable computing device in response to the instruction; and

outputting to a third party health researcher the input associated with the instruction of the one or more modules for use in health research relating to the study.

61. The system of claim 59 wherein the portable computing device comprises any of a smartphone, tablet, laptop, or computer.

62. The system of claim 59 wherein health research comprises observational pre-clinical, clinical, or post-clinical studies for tele-monitoring research.

63. The system of claim 59, wherein the input comprises a user input entered by the user on the graphical user interface of the device or an output of one or more sensors associated with the portable computing device.

64. The system of claim 63, wherein the portable computing device includes a first-party framework configured for displaying the user instruction on the graphical user interface, receiving the input and outputting the input to the third-party health researcher.

65. The system of claim 64, wherein the one or more sensor devices are configured to obtain sensor data and are communicatively coupled with the portable computing device through the first-party framework.

66. The system of claim 65, wherein the one or more sensor devices are configured to obtain sensor data relating to any of:

activity level, activity tracking, respiration, body temperature, heart wellness data, hydration levels, perspiration, blood glucose, salinity, sleep cycles, posture, O2 levels, muscle engagement, or any combination thereof.

67. The system of claim 65, wherein the one or more sensor devices are configured to obtain sensor data over a duration of time and the processor is configured such that the sensor data is obtained automatically over the duration of time based on the instruction from the respective module.

69. The system of claim 65, wherein the one or more sensor devices include one or more wearable devices that are wearable by the patient, each including a sensor that measures a health metric of the patient when worn by the patient.

60. (canceled)

68. (canceled)

70-100. -100. (canceled)