Affiliations: [a] Centre for Healthcare Innovation & Medical Engineering, Biomedical Institute for Global Health Research and Technology (BIGHEART), National University of Singapore, Singapore | [b] Department of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Melvyn Zhang, Centre for Healthcare Innovations & Medical Engineering, Biomedical Institute for Global Health Research and Technology (BIGHEART), National University of Singapore, MD6, 14 Medical Drive, #14-01, 117599 Singapore. Tel.: +65 63892504; Fax: +65 63892222; E-mail:melvynzhangweibin@gmail.com
Abstract: Smartphones and their accompanying applications are currently widely
utilized in various healthcare interventions. Prior to the deployment of
these tools for healthcare intervention, typically, proof of concept
feasibility studies, as well as randomized trials are conducted to determine
that these tools are efficacious prior to their actual implementation. In
the field of psychiatry, most of the current interventions seek to compare
smartphone based intervention against conventional care. There remains a
paucity of research evaluating different forms of interventions using a
single smartphone application. In the field of nutrition, there has been
recent pioneering research demonstrating how a multi-phasic randomized
controlled trial could be conducted using a single smartphone application.
Despite the innovativeness of the previous smartphone conceptualization,
there remains a paucity of technical information underlying the
conceptualization that would support a multi-phasic interventional trial. It
is thus the aim of the current technical note to share insights into an
innovative server design that would enable the delivery of multi-phasic trials.
Keywords: M-health, smartphones, randomized interventional, trials, server design
