Published by Gbaf News
Posted on February 2, 2017
6 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Tigerspike develops iPhone app using ResearchKit for the NIHR CRN to simplify clinical research projects
Tigerspike, a global digital products company has partnered with the National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Network (NIHR CRN), launching a pilot programme assessing how the power of mobile can aid clinical research processes.
Scientific research is expensive, time consuming and recruiting a large enough cohort is often difficult. The NIHR CRN partnered with Tigerspike to design and build an application for its employees that lets medical researchers gather robust and meaningful data, by making it easier to enrol participants and consequently conduct studies. The application uses the new ResearchKit software framework designed by Apple to make it easy for researchers to gather data more frequently and more accurately from participants using iPhone apps. ResearchKit enables participants to easily complete tasks or submit surveys right from the NIHR CRN app and delivers a simple way to present participants with an interactive informed consent process.
The NIHR CRN set up a challenge for their Coordinating Centre staff to walk 10,000 steps over a two-week period, with the application recording the number of steps participants made each day over the course of the study. The captured data was encrypted and sent securely to the Leeds Institute for Data Analytics (a body of the University of Leeds) where it was then reviewed. The results proved that e-consent is a strong option for people to sign-up to research and reduces the time taken to complete compared to traditional paper-based processes. Recruitment to the challenge was also more clear-cut in comparison to traditional research projects. Participants could simply download the application from a link and there was no requirement for specialist equipment or for participants to track information on paper – everything was collected on the mobile device.
“Medics and researchers around the world are already using digital technologies to revolutionise the way we think about health,” said Alex Burke, Group CEO, Tigerspike. “Many legacy healthcare systems are increasingly proving to be inefficient as they are simply too large and fragmented to drive rapid digital transformation. Technology is enabling data collection to be more efficient than ever before, for both researchers and participants alike. Through the use of mobile applications, medical researchers will have the power to recruit more participants much quicker, providing more precise data and more accurate insights than ever before. Ultimately, this will provide unprecedented opportunities for patients to gain earlier access to better and new treatments, and we’re looking forward to being a part of this revolution as we look to continue this initiative with the NIHR CRN”.
“Tigerspike immediately tied into our culture and enthusiasm to get things done,” said Michael Mullane, NIHR CRN Learning Management Systems Manager. “They handled the process of taking our idea to fruition in a way that was more about partnership than a client developer relationship. Tough and timely project management, good use of workflow tools and good communications meant that confidence was high throughout the project. Tigerspike delivered on time, within budget and to specification. Working with them has shone a light on our internal practices and helped us improve.”
Tigerspike develops iPhone app using ResearchKit for the NIHR CRN to simplify clinical research projects
Tigerspike, a global digital products company has partnered with the National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Network (NIHR CRN), launching a pilot programme assessing how the power of mobile can aid clinical research processes.
Scientific research is expensive, time consuming and recruiting a large enough cohort is often difficult. The NIHR CRN partnered with Tigerspike to design and build an application for its employees that lets medical researchers gather robust and meaningful data, by making it easier to enrol participants and consequently conduct studies. The application uses the new ResearchKit software framework designed by Apple to make it easy for researchers to gather data more frequently and more accurately from participants using iPhone apps. ResearchKit enables participants to easily complete tasks or submit surveys right from the NIHR CRN app and delivers a simple way to present participants with an interactive informed consent process.
The NIHR CRN set up a challenge for their Coordinating Centre staff to walk 10,000 steps over a two-week period, with the application recording the number of steps participants made each day over the course of the study. The captured data was encrypted and sent securely to the Leeds Institute for Data Analytics (a body of the University of Leeds) where it was then reviewed. The results proved that e-consent is a strong option for people to sign-up to research and reduces the time taken to complete compared to traditional paper-based processes. Recruitment to the challenge was also more clear-cut in comparison to traditional research projects. Participants could simply download the application from a link and there was no requirement for specialist equipment or for participants to track information on paper – everything was collected on the mobile device.
“Medics and researchers around the world are already using digital technologies to revolutionise the way we think about health,” said Alex Burke, Group CEO, Tigerspike. “Many legacy healthcare systems are increasingly proving to be inefficient as they are simply too large and fragmented to drive rapid digital transformation. Technology is enabling data collection to be more efficient than ever before, for both researchers and participants alike. Through the use of mobile applications, medical researchers will have the power to recruit more participants much quicker, providing more precise data and more accurate insights than ever before. Ultimately, this will provide unprecedented opportunities for patients to gain earlier access to better and new treatments, and we’re looking forward to being a part of this revolution as we look to continue this initiative with the NIHR CRN”.
“Tigerspike immediately tied into our culture and enthusiasm to get things done,” said Michael Mullane, NIHR CRN Learning Management Systems Manager. “They handled the process of taking our idea to fruition in a way that was more about partnership than a client developer relationship. Tough and timely project management, good use of workflow tools and good communications meant that confidence was high throughout the project. Tigerspike delivered on time, within budget and to specification. Working with them has shone a light on our internal practices and helped us improve.”
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