|
Handhelds
Generate Positive Results for Clinical Trials
|
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug. 30, 2001
Increasingly, the medical community is turning to leading-edge
handheld computing devices based on the industry-leading Palm OS
platform to obtain better-quality research data than that available
via traditional paper-based survey and observation methods. Three
initiatives currently underway in Irvine, Calif., Toronto, Canada,
and Chattanooga, Tenn., demonstrate the use of these devices in
medical research.
University of California, Irvine, Transforms
Palm Handhelds Into Electronic Diaries
Researchers at the University
of California, Irvine, are using Palm handhelds as electronic
diaries, collecting scientific survey data in the field with test
subjects. One test in progress involves tracking approximately 500
high school students and 220 college freshmen to determine what
factors make teens vulnerable to using tobacco products. Research
subjects receive Palm handhelds and fill out time-prompted surveys
and questionnaires. Researchers at UC Irvine have found that participants
are more willing to be honest with their computer diaries than with
pen and paper. ``How people behave in a lab is not the same as in
real life, and with the Palm handheld solution, we are able to catalog
how people live in real life,'' said Larry Jamner, Department of
Psychology and Human Behavior. ``Using Palm handhelds, we are getting
closer to unlocking behavioral secrets.''
University of Toronto Monitors Bipolar Disorder
A new study by researchers at the University
of Toronto and Toronto's Sunnybrook and Women's College Health
Sciences Centre is focused on providing crucial insights into bipolar
disorder -- a mental illness characterized by wide mood swings,
from mania to depression -- by using state-of-the-art wireless communications.
The study, funded by Bell University Labs, allows researchers to
track mood variations in individuals with bipolar disorder as well
as in healthy individuals.
The varied results are compared by the researchers. The study is
conducted using QUALCOMM pdQ 1900s, a combination of a Palm OS based
handheld device and a cellular phone. Twice daily, study participants
are prompted by the pdQ to answer a brief questionnaire that appears
on the screen. The questionnaire asks participants about their mood
as well as a number of symptoms common in depression and mania.
Upon completion of the questionnaire, the information is transmitted
wirelessly to a central database. Unlike paper-based questionnaires,
the pdQ solutions allows the researchers to track the exact time
each questionnaire is completed and to contact the subjects quickly
if a report is missing or incomplete. The researchers eventually
hope to incorporate a Global Positioning System (GPS) chip, enabling
them to factor environmental issues into their studies. The goal
of this study is to determine if fluctuations in mood differ over
time, either in frequency or extent, in people with bipolar disorder
as compared to people who do not suffer from the condition.
Erlanger Medical Center Emergency Heart and Stroke
Center Leverages Palm Devices in Research Trials
Clinical nurses and physicians active in patient research at the
Erlanger
Medical Center Emergency Heart and Stroke Center in Chattanooga
are using Palm V handhelds to simplify the process of qualifying
patients for research trials at the region's Level I Trauma Center.
When a patient comes into the center, neurologists and research
staff can reference the criteria of various research trials to see
if a patient can be included in a research project that studies
the prevention and management of strokes. Clinical nurses use the
Palm handheld's infrared port to beam trial protocols and patient
information to the physicians' handhelds to determine if a patient
can be included in a study that could potentially save lives. It
can take as long as 45 minutes to determine if a patient meets the
criteria for a study, explain the clinical trial to the patient,
obtain informed consent and get the patient randomized into the
trial. By making the search for protocols in a busy emergency room
obsolete, the use of Palm handhelds eliminates 10 to 15 minutes
in this process.
|
|