Patent Publication Number: US-2023154576-A1

Title: Method and apparatus for targeting people for participation in clinical trials

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION 
     This patent application claims priority to Canadian Patent application no. 3,139,286 filed on Nov. 16, 2021, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated by reference. 
     FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     This disclosure relates to communication systems, and more particularly to communication systems for targeting people for participation in clinical trials. 
     BACKGROUND 
     It can be difficult to recruit people for clinical trials. For example, by one estimate, about 85% of clinical trials go unfilled, and of the 15% of clinical trials that proceed, 80% of them are delayed due to delays in recruitment. Older methods that rely on advertising through old media such as radio and/or print adds are not very effective. Newer methods introduce online social media, but they are largely research-centric and not very effective at finding recruits. Note that many people are generally reluctant to participate in clinical trials because of the experimental nature of clinical trials. Without an effective way of recruiting, it is difficult to overcome that general reluctance. 
     Conventional approaches to recruit people for clinical trials leave much to be desired. It is desirable to improve upon the conventional approaches by employing technology to address or mitigate some or all of the aforementioned shortcomings. 
     SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     Disclosed is a method for execution by a computing device. The method involves receiving user input regarding an ailment, and responsive to the user input, playing media content relating to the ailment. The media content can for example include guided meditation for coping with the ailment. In accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure, the method also involves, upon an opportunity to participate in a clinical trial relating to the ailment, presenting details of the opportunity. In this manner, people can be targeted for participation in the clinical trial based on their consumption of media content. 
     In some implementations, responsive to user input regarding interest to participate in the clinical trial, the method also involves transmitting a message over a network indicating that interest. This can enable details of interested parties to be compiled by a server. 
     Also disclosed is a non-transitory computer readable medium having recorded thereon an application having statements and instructions that, when executed by a processor of a computing device, configure the computing device to implement the method summarized above. In some implementations, the application is downloaded to the computing device from a server. 
     Also disclosed is a computing device having a network adapter, a non-transitory computer readable medium, and a processor coupled to the network adapter and the non-transitory computer readable medium. In accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure, the non-transitory computer readable medium has recorded thereon an application having statements and instructions that, when executed by the processor, configures the computing device to implement the method summarized above. 
     Also disclosed is a server having a network adapter, a non-transitory computer readable medium, and a processor coupled to the network adapter and the non-transitory computer readable medium. In accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure, the non-transitory computer readable medium has recorded thereon an application having statements and instructions that, when executed by a processor of a computing device, configure the computing device to implement the method as summarized above. In addition, the processor is configured to, upon receiving a request via the network adapter for the application, transmit a copy of the application via the network adapter. In some implementations, the processor is configured to, upon receiving messages via the network adapter indicating interest to participate in the clinical trial, compile details of that interest. 
     Also disclosed is a server having a network adapter, a non-transitory computer readable medium, and a processor coupled to the network adapter and the non-transitory computer readable medium. In accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure, the server is web server and the processor is configured to generate web content suitable for a web browser of a computing device based on data stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium, such that the web content enables the computing device to implement the method summarized above, and wherein the processor is configured to transmit the web content via the network adapter. 
     Other aspects and features of the present disclosure will become apparent, to those ordinarily skilled in the art, upon review of the following description of the various embodiments of the disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Embodiments will now be described with reference to the attached drawings in which: 
         FIG.  1    is a block diagram of an example communication system having a server coupled to a plurality of computing devices via a network; and 
         FIG.  2    is a flowchart of a method of targeting a person for participation in a clinical trial. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     It should be understood at the outset that although illustrative implementations of one or more embodiments of the present disclosure are provided below, the disclosed systems and/or methods may be implemented using any number of techniques, whether currently known or in existence. The disclosure should in no way be limited to the illustrative implementations, drawings, and techniques illustrated below, including the exemplary designs and implementations illustrated and described herein, but may be modified within the scope of the appended claims along with their full scope of equivalents. 
     Introduction 
     Referring first to  FIG.  1   , shown is a block diagram of an example communication system  100  having a server  110  coupled to a plurality of computing devices  130 , 140 , 150 , 160  via a network  120 . The communication system  100  can have other components as well, but these are not shown for simplicity. The server  110  has a network adapter  112  for communicating with the computing devices  130 , 140 , 150 , 160  over the network  120 , a processor  116 , a computer readable medium  118 , and may have other components that are not shown for simplicity. The computing device  130  has a network adapter  132  for communicating with the server  110  over the network  120 , a processor  136 , a computer readable medium  138 , and may have other components that are not shown for simplicity. Details of the other computing devices  140 , 150 , 160  are not shown for simplicity, but they can have similar components as the computing device  130 . 
     In the illustrated example, the server  110  has an application  120 , and the computing devices  130 , 140 , 150 , 160  can download a copy of the application  120  over the network  120 . Once downloaded, the application  120  can be executed. The operation of the computing device  130  when executing the application  120  will be described below with reference to  FIG.  2   , which is a flowchart of a method  200  of targeting a person for participation in a clinical trial. Although the method  200  of  FIG.  2    is described below with reference to the computing device  130  in the communication system  100  shown in  FIG.  1   , it is to be understood that the method  200  of  FIG.  2    is applicable to other communication systems. Also, it is to be understood that the downloading of an application is not essential. For instance, in other implementations, the server  110  is a web server and the computing device  130  interacts with the web interface through a web browse. Other implementations are possible. 
     If at step  210  the computing device  130  receives user input regarding an ailment, then at step  220  the computing device  130  plays media content relating to the ailment. The media content can for example include guided meditation for coping with the ailment. In accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure, if at step  230  there is an opportunity to participate in a clinical trial relating to the ailment, then at step  240  the computing device  130  presents details of the opportunity. In this manner, people can be targeted for participation in the clinical trial based on their consumption of media content. This is a practical application of computer technology that builds upon the consumption of media content and thus computer technology is part of the actual invention. 
     If at step  250  the computing device  130  receives user input regarding interest to participate in the clinical trial, then at step  260  the computing device  130  transmits a message over the network  120  indicating that interest. This can enable details of interested parties to be compiled by the server  110 . In some implementations, such details of interested parties is compiled by the same server  110  that distributes copies of the application  110 . In other implementations, such details of interested parties is compiled by another server. For instance, a first server can distribute copies of the application  120  while a second server can receive messages indicating interest to participate in the clinical trial. Other implementations are possible. 
     In other implementations, the computing device  130  provides contact information (e.g. phone number and/or email address) so that the user can express their interest to participate in the clinical trial through other means. In such implementations, the computing device  130  might not transmit a message indicating interest to participate in the clinical trial. 
     Once details of interested parties are compiled, they can be reviewed according to an inclusion criteria, submitted as a proposal for recruitment, and it may be possible to obtain a finders fee upon successful recruitment of the interested parties. Finders fees can be significant, for example 10% of the cost of a clinical trial which for example could be $25k per diabetes patient (~$2.5k finders fee) or $80k per cancer patient (~$8k finders fee). 
     In some implementations, the user is presented with the details of the opportunity only if the clinical trial is in a geographic location (e.g. city, province or state) associated with the user. In some implementations, the geographic location is inferred from a location from which the media content relating to the ailment has been promoted. For example, upon promoting the media content at a meeting in Ottawa, subsequent downloads of the application can be inferred to be for people living in Ottawa or surrounding areas. In such implementations, it is not necessary to determine or track a location of the user. In other implementations, the geographic location is determined based on a location of the computing device  130 , for example by using GPS (Global Positioning System) technology or other means. In other implementations, the geographic location is determined based on user input specifying location. For example, the user can specify that they reside in Ottawa. Other implementations are possible. 
     In some implementations, the user input at step  210  includes an indication of the ailment. For example, the user can specify their ailment as being “arthritis” with a view to receiving guided meditation for addressing their arthritis. In some implementations, the media content relating to the ailment is one of many different media contents that relate to the ailment, and the user selects which media content to be played. In some implementations, there are many different media contents that relate to multiple different ailments, and the user selects which media content to be played. Other implementations are possible. 
     In some implementations, the media content is stored on the server  110 , and responsive to the user input, the media content is downloaded prior to playing the same. In other implementations, the media content is stored on another server. For instance, a first server can distribute copies of the application  120  while a second server can provide the media content. Other implementations are possible. 
     There are many possibilities for the media content. In some implementations, the media content includes audio data. In some implementations, the audio data encodes an audio track mixed with words relating to guided meditation for the ailment. In some implementations, the media content also includes video data. In some implementations, the media content is interactive, such as video conferencing for example. Other implementations are possible. 
     There are many possibilities for the computing devices  130 , 140 , 150 , 160 . The computing devices  130 , 140 , 150 , 160  can for example include a desktop computer  130 , a tablet compute  140 , a smartphone  150 , a laptop  160 , and/or any other appropriate computing device. The computing devices  130 , 140 , 150 , 160  can communicate with the server  110  using wireless connections as depicted and/or wired connections. Although only four computing devices  130 , 140 , 150 , 160  are depicted, it is to be understood that there can be more or less than four computing devices, and typically there would be numerous computing devices. 
     There are many possibilities for the network  120 . The network  120  can include several different networks even though such details are not shown for simplicity. For example, the network  120  can include a RAN (Radio Access Network) for communicating with wireless stations and the Internet for communicating with numerous other computing devices. The network  120  can have other components as well, but these details are not shown for simplicity. 
     There are many possibilities for the server  110 . In some implementations, the server  110  includes an application server for distributing copies of the application  120 . Additionally, or alternatively, the server  110  can include a web server for producing web content suitable for a web browser. In some implementations, the server  110  includes multiple servers to divide up functionality as noted above. Other implementations are possible. 
     There are many possibilities for the network adapter  112  of the server  110 . In some implementations, the network adapter  112  is a single network adapter  112 . In other implementations, the network adapter  112  includes multiple network adapters, for example a first network adapter for communicating with the one or more computing devices  130 , 140 , 150 , 160 , and a second network adapter for communicating with other computing devices, such as computing devices utilized by a system administrator. Both wireless and wired network adapters are possible. Any suitable network adapter that can communicate via the network  120  is possible. 
     Although embodiments disclosed herein focus on software implementations, it is noted that other implementations are possible. It is noted that other implementations can include additional or alternative hardware components, such as any appropriately configured FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit), and/or microcontroller, for example. Functionality described herein could be implemented with any suitable combination of hardware, software and/or firmware. 
     According to another embodiment of the disclosure, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium having recorded thereon statements and instructions that, when executed by the processor  136  of the computing device  130 , implement a method as described herein. The non-transitory computer readable medium can be the computer readable medium  118  of the server  110  shown in  FIG.  1   , the computer readable medium  138  of the computing device  130  shown in  FIG.  1   , or some other non-transitory computer readable medium. The non-transitory computer readable medium can for example include an SSD (Solid State Drive), a hard disk drive, a CD (Compact Disc), a DVD (Digital Video Disc), a BD (Blu-ray Disc), a memory stick, or any appropriate combination thereof. 
     Numerous modifications and variations of the present disclosure are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the disclosure may be practised otherwise than as specifically described herein.