苹果把移动设备变成临床研究工具

Tapping an iPhone’s touchscreen to take a photograph or make a phone call is as familiar as the traditional cameras and mobile phones that it replaced. Medical researchers hope to use the same simple interactions to study diseases from Parkinson’s to asthma.

点击iPhone的触摸屏来照相或打电话，如今已变得跟被iPhone取代的传统相机和手机一样令人熟悉了。医学研究人员希望使用同样简单的互动，去研究从帕金森氏综合症到哮喘的各类疾病。

Apple began its move into the digital health industry last summer when it unveiled HealthKit, a software platform that developers can use to pool data about workouts, calorie intake and weight. Apple touted its potential to alert doctors about changes to the user’s wellbeing, and several US hospitals have begun to pilot the system. Less than a year later, almost 1,000 fitness apps are plugging in to HealthKit, giving Apple a strong base upon which to launch its health-centred Watch device.

去年夏天，苹果(Apple)开始进入数字医疗行业，推出了HealthKit软件平台，开发人员可以使用该平台汇集健身锻炼、卡路里摄入和体重数据。苹果宣称该系统有潜力提醒医生关注用户健康状况变化，几家美国医院已开始试用该系统。不到1年之后，接入HealthKit的健身应用app已达近1000个，为苹果推出以健康为核心的苹果手表(Apple Watch)装置奠定了坚实的基础。

Apple’s longer-term plans became clearer with the launch earlier this month of ResearchKit, a way for medical researchers to transform the iPhone into a tool for conducting clinical research.

随着本月ResearchKit的推出，医疗研究人员获得一种将iPhone变成临床研究工具的途径，苹果的更长期计划变得明晰起来。

“All you have to do is stick the iPhone in your pocket, walk out 20 steps and back, and the iPhone’s accelerometer and gyroscope precisely measure gait,” said Jeff Williams, Apple’s senior vice-president for operations, of an app studying Parkinson’s, at this month’s launch.

“你只需要一直把iPhone放在口袋里，走上20步再返回，iPhone的加速计和陀螺仪就能精确测量您的步态，”苹果运营高级副总裁杰夫•威廉斯(Jeff Williams)在本月发布会上提到一款研究帕金森氏综合症的app时表示。

Apple is not planning to make money directly from these apps, which also track diabetes and cardiovascular health. But ResearchKit is building goodwill with the medical community that could help to sell more iPhones or Watches.

苹果不打算直接通过app赚钱（此类app还可追踪糖尿病和心血管健康状况）。但ResearchKit正在医疗界打造良好声誉，可能有助于提高iPhone或Apple Watch销量。

“Having a common platform is a godsend to researchers at the university, hospital, clinical and government level,” says Richard Doherty, research director at Envisioneering, a technology consultancy.

“拥有一项共同平台，对于大学、医院、临床和政府方面的研究人员来说是天赐之物，”技术咨询公司Envisioneering的研究总监理查德•多尔蒂(Richard Doherty)表示。

Guaranteeing users’ data security and privacy will be essential. Mr Williams has said that customers will opt into any ResearchKit programmes and promised that Apple “will not see your data”.

确保用户数据的安全与隐私将是不可或缺的。苹果的威廉斯表示，顾客将自愿选择加入任何ResearchKit计划，他承诺，苹果“将看不到你的数据”。

He concluded: “Apple has always believed that amazing things can happen when you put technology in the hands of the many.”

他断言道：“苹果始终相信，当你让众人掌握科技手段时，可能会有奇迹发生。”