Data capture software for clinical research into mental health

Arcitecta is developing a product to improve the capture and management of data from clinical research worldwide. The work builds on the company’s metadata management platform, Mediaflux, “but extends its capabilities for clinical research data capture and management,” according Arcitecta Chief Technical Officer Jason Lohrey.

This project is being funded by the Department of State Development, Business and Innovation in Victoria, with in-kind contributions from Arcitecta and the CRC for Mental Health. The CRC is also providing real data taken from volunteers.

“Modern medical research relies on data collected from patient volunteers to test the effectiveness of new products and discover new ways of diagnosing diseases early,” explained Dr Noel Faux, bioinformatician at the CRC for Mental Health.

A key focus of the CRC is gaining insights from longitudinal studies into Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia and various mood disorders. These studies collect data at regular intervals over the course of between one to seven years. The amount of data generated and that needs to be assessed can be in the order of over 100 TB, which could be spread across the 19 different organisations that form the CRC for Mental Health consortium.

The aim with all of these studies is to identify the biomarkers that provide an early indication of the onset of these mental illnesses. Changes in proteins, lipids or brain activity could indicate the first signs of a mental illness, so being able to detect these changes would provide clinicians with the ability to diagnose and treat the condition at the early onset stage, rather than waiting until the condition has developed.

Arcitecta’s new software product will:

• enable clinicians to capture clinical data at the bedside, in a form that is easily accessible to them and other non-expert IT users;
• import and export new and existing data;
• enable multiple research institutions to collaborate on multiple trials by allowing them to feed data;
• allow users to develop additional functions as and when they need it.

“To identify causal factors for a particular mental illness, researchers need to gather and assess an enormous amount of clinical information, which consists of a mix of clinical notes, medical imaging and patient pathology results,” Dr Faux said.

“This project is important because it means we can capture all sorts of data across multiple sites, covering multiple conditions; enhancing the results and the management of the patient’s condition.”

Using modern agile software development techniques, Arcitecta will build and implement the new product (to the CRC for Mental Health’s specifications) within 12 months and promote it through the CRC for Mental Health consortium and its global alliance with SGI. The CRC will then test the product across multiple sites in Melbourne and Perth and multiple clinical settings, ensuring it meets the diverse needs of the clinical and research community and the trials being conducted.

Once successfully implemented, said Dr Faux, the product “will have application worldwide and will enhance our ability to collaborate with other leading researchers”.