FRAX iPhone app Tool to Access Fracture Risk in Clinical Trials
Posted on Wed, May 19, 2010 @ 10:07 AM
FRAX iPhone App a Tool to Access Fracture Risk with Implications for Clinical Trials
Colin G. Miller, PhD FICR CSci
The iPhone continues to make inroads into all aspects of our lives, and medical imaging and clinical trials have not escaped. Doctot (Doc tools of the trade), an Irish company run by medical and software professionals, recently launched an iPhone app (priced at $5.99 in the US), which makes the WHO Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX) readily accessible to doctors.
Developed by Professor John Kanis at the University of Sheffield, FRAX is a tool that uses population-based algorithms to calculate the 10-year probability of hip fracture and 10 year probability of a major osteoporotic fracture. The FRAX calculation tool is available online.
Risk factors such as age, sex, weight, height, smoking, fracture history, alcohol and femoral neck bone mineral density (BMD) are input into the tool to calculate the fracture risk. Older women are particularly at risk of osteoporosis because bone loss dramatically speeds up after the menopause.
The iPhone app, developed by Doctot in collaboration with the International Osteoporosis Society (IOS), allows the FRAX calculation to be quickly performed in an office, clinic or outpatient setting.
The following screen shots from the iTunes store show how it operates:
source: Apple iTunes Store
source: Apple iTunes Store
This app can be downloaded by anyone, and can be used by patients who want to assess their own risk of osteoporosis, but given the knowledge required to interpret the results, the target market is more likely medical professionals.
It will be interesting to see how successful this app proves to be, but anything that speeds up the diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis is to be commended. The use of the iPhone and other similar smart phones in clinical trials is something I expect we will see more of as relevant apps are developed.
What are your thoughts about this FRAX iPhone app being used as a tool to access osteoporosis and fracture risk with implications for clinical trials?