Apple’s ResearchKit: smart data collection for the smartphone era?

Alongside the Apple Watch, in March 2015 Apple released ResearchKit, an open source software framework for medical research. Available at www.researchkit.org, ResearchKit enables investigators to create mobile applications which use the iPhone’s capacity to collect data, track movement and take measurements. Intended to facilitate largescale, opt-in surveys and observational studies as well as providing a new way for researchers to collect adjuvant data on subjects recruited elsewhere, ResearchKit is now demonstrating its power. A recently opened study of cardiovascular health at Stanford University recruited over 10,000 participants within 24 h of their ResearchKit platform being launched. Engagement with novel electronic research methodologies varies; barriers related to healthcare systems, culture and investigator technological fluency are challenging. Encouragingly, surveys of junior doctors indicate high levels of enthusiasm for developing new smartphone applications (apps) for use in healthcare and research. ResearchKit offers a development platform with relatively little assumed knowledge. Here, we outline and evaluate the framework, identifying issues for ethics approval and indicating how this system fits into current practice.