Digital Health bits | May 29th 2019
Examining the ethical landscape and user expectations of mobile oncology trial recruitment applications
Healthcare mobile applications (apps) have been growing in prevalence in recent years, with the promise of tracking things such as diet, fitness levels and sleep cycles in order to improve our health. Another way in which healthcare apps are being used is in the oncology trial recruitment space, a tactic that raises many ethical red flags. In a new study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Baylor College of Medicine ethics scholar Dr. Stephanie Morain explores this phenomenon and what these app companies and consumers need to consider in terms of privacy and data protection.
Recruiting patients into oncology clinical trials can be difficult and costly, and many digital health startups and other stakeholders believe that mobile apps can help improve enrollment rates.
Podimetrics bags $13.4M for connected diabetic foot ulcer detection platform
Somerville, Massachusetts-based Podimetrics, maker of a connected device for diabetic foot ulcer detection, has raised $13.4 million in Series B funding. Rock Health, Norwich Ventures and Scientific Health Development each participated in the round.
Podimetrics’ platform consists of a cellular-connected SmartMat for use in the home, and a corresponding clinician-facing dashboard. Users stand on the SmartMat for 20 seconds each day, during which the device collects foot temperature scans and transmits the results to the company’s care team. The patients’ clinician is then alerted to any concerning results so that preventive action can be taken.
“Diabetic foot ulcers are one of the most devastating and costliest diabetes-related complications. In fact, data suggest that today as many as one out of every three dollars spent on diabetes is linked to lower extremity complications,” Podimetrics co-founder and CEO Dr. Jon Bloom said in a statement. “At Podimetrics, we are working diligently to help prevent [diabetic foot ulcers], remotely catching early signs often five weeks before they would present clinically.”
AIA Australia launches digital health coach for cancer patients
Insurance provider AIA Australia announced the launch of its CancerAid Health Coach Program, a digital health management system provided to AIA Australia customers while they receive cancer treatment.
Designed to run in conjunction with the CancerAid application, the program educates patients on how to better manage their care while empowering them to actively participate in decisions around their health management.
Based on the concept of participatory health, the platform is designed to help patients and caregivers make behavioural changes, thereby driving improved clinical outcomes through access to evidence-based tools, and additional support for patients.
“We recognise that better health outcomes can be achieved if we offer services early,” Damien Mu, chief executive of AIA Australia and New Zealand, said in a statement.
Mu noted AIA has customers who are able to start the CancerAid Health Coach Program before they have even commenced their chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
“We are able to truly make a difference in the lives of these cancer patients at a time when they are extremely vulnerable,” he continued.
The program is broken down into modules with coaching calls that give patients up-to-date research and evidence-based information, and covers symptom tracking, the importance of activity and exercise, diet and nutrition, sleep and techniques to improve mental health.
Algorithm Identifies Children with Internalizing Disorders with 80% Accuracy
A machine learning tool that analyzes audio data identified children with an internalizing mental illness with 80% accuracy, according to new research published in IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics.
Results showed that the algorithm had a sensitivity of 54% and a specificity of 93%. The tool outperformed clinical thresholds on parent-reported child symptoms, which identify children with lower accuracy (between 67% and 77%).
Researchers from the University of Vermont and the University of Michigan used Speech Task, an adapted version of a mood induction task called the Trier-Social Stress Task, which causes feelings of stress and anxiety in the subject.
During the Speech Task, 71 children between the ages of three and eight who spoke fluent English and whose caregivers were at least 18 years old, prepared and issued a three-minute speech and were judged on its merit. A buzzer interrupted the speech with 90 and 30 seconds remaining. Investigators recorded the speech with a video camera and extracted the audio for analysis.
Poole Hospital launches virtual fracture clinic to improve patient experience
Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has introduced a virtual fracture clinic in a bid to improve patient experience.
The virtual clinic, believed to be the first of its kind in Dorset, also aims to reduce waiting times by ensuring only those who need an appointment are given one in a timely manner.
Prior to the virtual solution, all patients seen at the Trust’s Emergency Departments (ED) with a suspected fracture would have been referred to the hospital fracture clinic. Though, often a face-to-face appointment is not needed as injuries heal without intervention.
Now, with support from Bluespier software and the virtual clinic, patients in ED have their injury immobilised in a splint or boot and those who require orthopaedic review are booked onto a Virtual Fracture Clinic rather than automatically attending a traditional one.
Teladoc partners with Cincinnati Children's on pediatric telehealth platform
Teladoc announced that it is teaming up with Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center to develop what the organizations claim will be the first consumer pediatric telehealth platform.
Key assets of the yet-to-be-developed platform will include pediatric-specific workflows and clinical requirements as well as a user experience designed for young patients and their families.
Cincinnati Children's CIO Steve Davis will head up an interdisciplinary team to advise on the endeavor. Work on the platform will get underway during the second quarter of this year with widespread availability planned for early 2020.
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Note: Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer
Director, experienced Commercial and Clinical Trials Operations at Novartis
5ythanks for sharing Fabio