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Apple's ResearchKit now includes studies for autism, epilepsy and melanoma

By Kenny Yeo - on 16 Oct 2015, 10:25am

Apple's ResearchKit now includes studies for autism, epilepsy and melanoma

Image source: 9to5 Mac

Apple's ResearchKit is a open-source software framework designed specifically for medical research.

What it does, to put it in layman's terms, is that it allows researchers to tap into the power and wide user base of iPhone users by designing tests that iPhone users can do to help advance medical studies.

When it was first announced earlier this year, Apple demonstrated how it could aid research of Parkinson's disease, diabetes, breast cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Now, joining the list is autism, epilepsy and melanoma. The new studies are run by researchers from Duke University, Johns Hopkins and Oregon Health and Science University.

The autism project from Duke University are looking to use the front-facing iPhone camera to detect developmental issues in early years of life, detecting a child’s emotional response to specific videos. Epilepsy study is being ran by Johns Hopkins using an Apple Watch app. The app will take advantage of sensors in the watch to see if it can reliably detect the duration and onset of seizures. The app tracks seizures and the responsiveness of a person during the event. Melanoma research is being run by Oregon institution and uses the iPhone camera to study mole growth and skin health.

Apple also took the chance to announce that since its inception, over 50 researchers have contributed to the project and over 100,000 people are participating in ResearchKit studies.

If the numbers seem low, that's because ResearchKit is not opened to all countries yet. It is currently available only to users in the US, China, Germany, Hong Kong, Austria and the UK. Additionally, not everyone might be comfortable with doing medical studies and sharing their medical data. Nevertheless, it's a promising start considering ResearchKit is just about 6 months old.

Source: 9to5 Mac

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