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The new app developed for IMMEDIATE facilitates clinical studies and remote follow-up.
Recently launched and already available on all major app stores, the IMMEDIATE Immedi-app is a new application designed to support clinical research and, more broadly, remote patient monitoring. It was conceived and developed by Zadig for the European project of the same name.
Follow our journey in the video as we continue to work to improve and expand the features of the new IMMEDI-APP, enabling increasingly effective and accessible health monitoring.
The European IMMEDIATE project was launched to explore the fundamental relationship between diet, gut microbiota – that is, the community of microorganisms living in our intestines – immunity and overall health.
As explained by Giulia Candiani of Zadig, a molecular biologist who coordinates Zadig’s participation in IMMEDIATE:
“The central objective of this large European project, of which we are a partner, is to gain an increasingly better understanding of the processes underlying the onset of chronic inflammation, a phenomenon at the root of many diseases, including those associated with ageing, in order to prevent them. Particular attention is paid to the role of the gut microbiota, namely the community of microorganisms that lives in our intestines. This community acts as a kind of messenger between our diet and the body, helping to maintain the balance between mechanisms that trigger inflammation and those that, on the contrary, prevent it. A deeper understanding of these mechanisms makes it possible to understand how they can be directed towards health.”
An app supporting clinical research
Within this project, Zadig has, among other activities, developed an app to support a clinical study assessing the mental health benefits of supplementation with Akkermansia muciniphila, one of the most extensively studied bacteria, whose deficiency or absence in the microbiota has been associated with numerous pathological conditions.
Candiani explains:
“The new app developed for IMMEDIATE is designed to build and maintain contact between researchers and participants in a clinical study conducted within the project, which aims to explore the impact of the gut microbiota on stress. Thanks to the app, it is possible to regularly monitor participants’ health status through recurring questionnaires.”
The people taking part in the study work in healthcare professions, which are now widely recognised as being at high risk of stress. Half of the participants take an Akkermansia extract for three months, while the other half take a placebo, without knowing which one they are receiving (the study is blinded). During this period, participants meet the researchers three times (at the beginning, halfway through, and at the end of the three months) and undergo a series of physical and biochemical tests related to the microbiome and other parameters, as well as completing questionnaires used to assess their mental health status, stress levels and related factors.
The app now makes it possible to monitor participants more frequently.
Candiani adds:
“Thanks to the app, participants’ health can be monitored more frequently than during the three in-person laboratory visits. Selected key sections of the questionnaires can be completed by participants on a regular basis – weekly in this case, though potentially even daily – thanks to the app’s extremely simple and user-friendly interface.”
Suitable for remote patient follow-up
In addition to being convenient and easy to use, the app was designed to securely store data – which, being health-related, are sensitive by definition – in full compliance with privacy regulations, as well as to transfer them to cloud systems. It therefore provides researchers with a reliable way to access and integrate this information into their studies.
As Candiani explains:
“At Zadig, we approached the design and development of the app starting from the requirements and needs of all the actors involved, which we analysed in depth. We therefore designed the user journey within the app to ensure it would be easy and intuitive to use. After optimising the user experience, we moved on to the interface layout. We invested considerable effort in designing a database that is not only secure from a privacy perspective, but also efficient, prioritising robustness and scalability so that it can be expanded in the future and used to collect additional data in subsequent research. Finally, we designed interfaces that facilitate data synchronisation between the application and the cloud server. Today, the app can be easily used by researchers and clinical study participants alike, ensuring effectiveness, security and ease of use.”
Zadig is now working to further improve the mobile application and expand its functionalities within the project, with the primary aim of facilitating data collection and patient follow-up for researchers.
Candiani concludes:
“This app can easily move from use in clinical research to use in patient follow-up, for example for people with chronic diseases, who can be monitored on a day-to-day basis, making their care more effective.”
You can download the app via the links below or by scanning the QR code.
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