Montana State University Medical Device To Be Released

A wearable device for people participating in medical trials, designed by researchers at Montana State University, is about to be made available.

What are you talking about?

I very briefly mentioned this device when I did an article talking about how healthcare research being done at MSU was set to be featured at the Florence Nightengale Museum in London in a new exhibit.  This is one of the pieces of MSU research that will be part of MSU's portion of the exhibit, according to the release from MSU.

What does this thing do?

The device, called TrialWear, is meant to address issues that can arise among patients participating in clinical trials, particularly to do with communication.

One such issue is informing medical personnel that the wearer is in a trial to begin with in the event that the patient is unable to do so themselves.

Imagine this:  A person taking part in a trial is injured in a car accident and is taken, unconscious, to the ER.  The paramedics and ER staff treat the patient, but depending on the trial in question, could result in complications or just invalidating the patient's trial data, which can basically end their participation in the trial right then and there.  The TrialWear would allow the attending medical staff access to information about the trial, such as potential drug interactions and other things to be avoided in order to preserve the integrity of the data.

It also works if the patient is travelling and has to seek medical care at a facility not connected with the trial.  The device includes tech similar to the kind used to track packages, and when it detects that the wearer is entering a medical facility, it sends an alert to the wearer's phone to show the clinic staff.

Is that all?

The researchers also hope that TrialWear will expand the pool of potential participants for medical trials.

Right now, the ability to participate is typically limited to people who live near the facilities running the trial or patients at larger hospitals.  Due to issues with coordinating with rural hospitals and clinics, people living in those areas are typically not able to take part, when they are otherwise prime candidates.