Optimizing trials through mobile health technology

 

By integrating Garmin’s vívofit activity tracker with the Medidata Clinical Cloud, Medidata says it is enabling its life-sciences customers to make use of mobile health (mHealth) devices with the potential to enhance patient engagement, data quality and operational efficiencies in clinical trials.

 

Designed to be worn on a person’s wrist round-the-clock, Garmin’s vívofit measures steps taken, distance traveled, calories burned and hours slept. The water-resistant device—which displays fitness data through its always-on LCD display—is being used by Medidata to capture patient data in clinical trials. According to Medidata, the vívofit was chosen because of the ease of use provided by its year-long battery life, which can improve the convenience and speed associated with capturing direct-from-patient data and, as such, has the potential to increase compliance among study participants in a clinical trial setting.

 

“We’re thrilled to be working with Garmin, a company that shares our passion for innovation and our commitment to enhancing people’s health and well-being,” said Glen de Vries, Medidata’s president. “Integrating the vívofit with the Medidata platform is part of our ongoing efforts to unify mHealth devices with cloud-based technologies in a clinical trial setting. We believe these efforts will result in better data, enhanced patient experiences and more efficient trials.”

 

Medidata has built cloud-based infrastructure that enables life-sciences companies to explore the use of mHealth technologies in clinical research. This infrastructure gathers data from devices worn by patients and integrates it with other traditional clinical data, including labs, vital signs, medical history and adverse events. Medidata is currently working with top life-sciences organizations to explore the feasibility of using the vívofit in clinical trials.

 

The data is pulled from the Garmin activity tracker in 15-minute increments and then analyzed to evaluate its connection with traditional clinical measures and determine whether it can provide better insight into patient health status or response to therapy.

 

“At Garmin, our mission is to develop innovative technology that promotes healthy and active lifestyles,” said Allison Swelin, strategic partnership development manager at Garmin International. “We’re excited to see Medidata use the vívofit in their pursuit to help the global life-sciences industry find better, easier ways to collect data directly from patients.”