Irish wearable technology firm Shimmer Research has introduced Verisense Digital Health Panel (DHP) to provide raw, real-world, digital health ground-truth sensor data to clinical researchers.
Verisense is a flexible, modular patent-pending platform, with versatile and dependable sensors that offer continuous access to high-quality raw data.
The platform is designed to address the specific needs of clinical trials and remote patient research, said the Irish company.
According to Shimmer, most of the current wearable devices use their own algorithms and data to measure steps and sleep patterns, which give different results.
The data offered by Verisense DHP, when combined with patient-reported outcomes and real-world data, would provide a complete longitudinal view of a participant’s health.
Shimmer Americas president and the open wearables initiative (OWEAR) co-founder Geoffrey Gill said: “We are working toward a world in which wearable sensors and other digital health technologies can tell people they are getting sick before they know it, and doctors can transition from reactively treating illnesses to proactively managing them.
“For that to occur, we need to capture reliable, minimally processed ‘raw,’ real-world data that can serve as ground truth for any analysis validating new algorithms and comparing them head-to-head with current state-of-the-art algorithms.
“Healthcare stakeholders need to work together to create a transparent, ground truth dataset using raw data and open algorithms. This will enable the development of standardised digital biomarkers and endpoints in which regulators, payors, and patients can have more confidence and trust.”
Shimmer has already started enrolling participants in the institutional review board (IRB) approved the longitudinal study, with cohorts from different clinical studies.
DHP participants will initially be equipped with Verisense wearable sensors, with plans to add other third-party devices later.
Shimmer stated that the approach would place a minimum burden on all the research stakeholders, sponsors, site staff, and participants.
The privacy of study participants, who will contribute wearable sensor data and monthly survey data to the Verisense DHP, will be safeguarded by segmentation of information and tokenization, said the company.
Shimmer has selected Schlesinger Clinical Research as its panel management partner for the Verisense DHP, based on its more than 55 years of experience recruiting patients.
Schlesinger Group clinical division leader and executive vice president Shannon Childs said: “We understand the importance of providing access to a wide variety of patient types for conducting healthcare research.
“Partnering with groups like Shimmer Research allows us to contribute in a meaningful way to advance patient care. We know this will give patients a voice through surveys while also providing the opportunity to help build this real-world evidence database.”
