Apple's ResearchKit turns iPhones into medical research devices

Apple at its Spring Forward event announced 'ResearchKit', an open-source software tool designed to give doctors and scientists a new way to gather information on patients for large scale studies by using their iPhones.

The ResearchKit platform has applications developed by top research institutions based on clinical studies on diseases like asthma, breast cancer, heart disease, diabetes and Parkinson's disease. The studies are opt-in, meaning users get to decide if they want to participate in a study and how their data is to be shared.

The ResearchKit platform works hand in hand with Apple's HealthkKit software. When granted permission by user, the apps access data from Health app, and the ResearchKit allows access to accelerometer, microphone, gyroscope and GPS sensors on the user’s iPhone to gather information on weight, blood pressure, glucose levels and asthma inhaler. This data can help to gain insights into a patients gait, motor impairment, fitness, speech and memory.

With ResearchKit Apple may have begun a new revolution in the world of health and medicine, just like it revolutionised the music industry with iTunes.