Apple announces ResearchKit, turns iPhones into medical research devices

During Apple's Sprint Forward event, the company spoke about the usefulness of the Apple iPhone and the introduction of Healthkit with iOS 8. It also announced ResearchKit, an open source framework built with medical research in mind.

With ResearchKit, your iPhone can be used as a medical research device, enabling researchers to easily create apps to help with their work. Data is securely collected by anyone willing to contribute, and it is possible to control how much of a contributor's personal data is accessed.

Apple has partners with several leading medical institutions around the world, who are currently using ResearchKit to gain insight on diseases like, Asthma, Parkinson's Disease, Diabetes, Breast Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease. These institutions have also released apps to help with their study.

You can download the apps directly on your device through the Apple App Store or by using the following links

	Asthma Health
	Asthma Health is a personalized tool that helps you to gain greater insight into your asthma, adhere to treatment plans, avoid triggers, and take charge of your health.
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	mPower for Parkinson's Disease
	mPower is a personal tool and research instrument to track symptoms of Parkinson disease.
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	GlucoSuccess for Diabetes
	GlucoSuccess is powered by Apple’s new ResearchKit, allowing you to participate in a medical research study focused on Pre-Diabetes & Diabetes.
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	Share the Journey for Breast Cancer
	Share the Journey: Mind, Body and Wellness after breast cancer enables a medical research study that aims to understand the symptoms after breast cancer treatment, why these symptoms vary over time, and what can be done to improve them.
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	MyHeart Counts for Cardiovascular Disease
	The MyHeart Counts app is a personalized tool that can help you measure daily activity, fitness, and cardiovascular risk.