Apple Expands ResearchKit To Autism, Melanoma, Epilepsy, More

Apple’s ResearchKit platform, which lets researchers conduct medical studies via iPhone app, is now being used to take on autism, epilepsy, and melanoma. The new studies will be run by researchers at Duke University, Johns Hopkins, and Oregon Health and Science University.

Through ResearchKit, scientists can conduct human studies by asking people to submit various personal data via their iPhones. Apple says the autism study will take photos of children through iPhone cameras and use new emotion detection algorithms to assess their emotional response to specific videos. Other studies will take advantage of the array of sensors inside iPhones to streamline medical research and help advance a variety of initiatives.

In a statement, Apple executive Jeff Williams said, “We’re honored to work with world-class medical institutions and provide them with tools to better understand diseases and ultimately help people lead healthier lives. In just six months, ResearchKit apps studying everything from asthma and diabetes to Parkinson’s disease, are already providing insights to scientists around the world and more than 100,000 participants are choosing to contribute their data to advance science and medical research.”

ResearchKit can also leverage data from Apple’s own health app to track users’ weight, blood pressure, glucose levels, and more.

[via 9to5Mac]