Clinical trial data platform: Boosting researcher productivity by 21%
.svg)
Project overview
Data is the backbone of a clinical trial — but staying on top of it is easier said than done. However, thanks to wearables and biomedical equipment advances, collecting this data is no longer an in-person-only endeavor. Insulin pumps, for example, transmit glucose level data directly to a centralized platform during a clinical trial.
Our client, a prominent biomedical technology company that collaborated with us under an NDA, sought to build such a centralized platform. The goal? Give researchers a 360-degree view of all patient data pulled directly from insulin pumps, CGM sensors, and other devices in real time.
To succeed in this market segment, our client had to ensure the platform would do more than power data management. The solution had to facilitate data retrieval and analysis, making all tools easy and convenient to use and saving researchers valuable time.
Furthermore, as the client already had a back-end system built, our solution would have to integrate seamlessly with it. Besides, it needed to comply with the strictest security and privacy standards to protect the sensitive health information of trial participants.
We got to work.
Services
Business challenges
Our client faced multiple development challenges with this project. First and foremost, the platform handled large volumes of sensitive patient data. Therefore, it had to comply with privacy and security regulations. It required several security considerations, from access control to encryption.
Additionally, the platform had to be scalable enough to handle hundreds of data updates from multiple clinical trials without dips in performance. We considered it during architecture planning to meet our client’s objectives.
Finally, the platform’s key selling points were convenience and time-saving potential. So, we had to ensure every user flow was as intuitive and straightforward as possible. Meanwhile, all data had to be easy to access, search, and analyze.
We conducted a comprehensive discovery phase to zero in on the full range of our client’s strategic business needs and technical requirements. Based on its results, we aligned our work with the following needs and requirements:
Strategic business needs
Technical requirements
Let’s discuss how Darly Solutions’ expertise can help you build an efficient and user-friendly solution.
.webp)
Solutions
To meet our client’s requirements, we approached the project holistically. The developer and designer teams worked in sync to align fully with the client’s priorities. As a result, the clinic data platform we delivered combines intuitive data visualizations, real-time data streaming, advanced data protections, event-driven notifications, and a human-centered UI/UX design.
Beyond delivering these capabilities, we streamlined design consistency with Material UI’s library of pre-built components. As for the client’s requirements, we also ensured the platform’s full regulatory compliance and implemented advanced error handling to protect data integrity.
Real-time data streaming
We used RTK Query and WebSockets to implement real-time data streaming from the connected devices via our client’s existing back-end system. We also leveraged React-Error-Boundary to handle errors and prevent interruptions in data syncing effectively.
In line with our client’s requirements, we also designed the platform’s architecture with scalability in mind. Therefore, it can handle multiple clinical trials without a dip in performance or an increase in latency.
Our efforts minimized the latency between data generation and its appearance on the platform, improving data refreshing speed by 43%.
Interactive dashboards
Each participant’s data is presented on a card with the participant’s number, the last update time, and the latest reading. The platform automatically compares the latest reading to the previous one, visualizing the trend as an arrow. Besides, users can also toggle mg/dL to mmol/L and vice versa.
With our dashboards, researchers quickly review the latest participant data at a glance. Thanks to our interface design choices, it’s easy to scan through the page and grasp the trends in the collected data and its freshness. As a result, researchers who use the platform spend 23% less time monitoring and retrieving trial data.
Event-driven notifications and alerts
Our client initially required an event-driven notification system. We rose to the challenge and implemented real-time notifications and alerts for the latest data changes, errors, and potential issues researchers may need to respond to.
For example, platform users receive notifications when a new reading appears in a patient record or the connected device has a low battery level. The platform also notifies users about logins from new devices, delivered doses, and alerts sent to participants.
Timely alerts allow researchers to monitor the latest readings and quickly resolve potential issues before they become more challenging. These alerts reduced the issue response time by 14%.
Participant management
With the platform’s participant management capabilities, researchers find participants by name or ID, sort them by status (active/not active), and review all participant data in table format. The table includes the most recent reading value, clinical trial number, last update, and the participant’s name and ID.
Users also review individual participant information from this table. That includes all historical readings, detailed patient profiles, and additional information about their condition.
This comprehensive participant management toolkit enables researchers to focus on more value-adding tasks than data search and organization. Our efforts in facilitating participant management paid off as the platform increased researcher productivity by an average of 21%.
File upload and form handling
Our platform also serves as a centralized repository for all clinical trial documentation. File upload is fast and smooth thanks to our choice of React-Dropzone for implementation. Moreover, it’s secure thanks to advanced data encryption and thorough access control.
As for forms, we leveraged React-Hook-Form to streamline their handling and validation. As a result, users don’t have to worry about data integrity and consistency: advanced validation prevents human error in data entry and standardizes all input values. As a result, trial data quality metrics rose by an average of 16% thanks to our efforts.
Data tables
The dashboard makes it possible to grasp all recent data at a glance. However, researchers must also work with historical data to gain meaningful insights into trial progress and results. For that purpose, we added data tables to the platform. With their help, researchers navigate the available datasets by searching and filtering them. Users can also export data for future analysis.
Intuitive data organization and robust data retrieval and search tools increased data operations by 23% for the platform’s users, boosting their productivity and efficiency.
Data security and privacy
As the platform handles extremely sensitive data, we took steps to protect it with two crucial measures: advanced data encryption and robust access control.
We implemented end-to-end data encryption to secure the readings and patient and trial information in transit and at rest. In turn, multi-factor authentication powers access control and prevents unauthorized access to clinical trial data.
On top of these measures, we conducted a complete analysis of applicable regulatory requirements before designing and developing the platform. All the identified compliance requirements shaped the solution’s functional and non-functional requirements.
Sleek, intuitive interface
We invested our time and effort in researching the platform’s future users to gain a full grasp of their workflows and pain points.
Based on that data, we mapped out and implemented an intuitive interface with smooth navigation and clean layouts. Our typography and iconography choices seamlessly communicated information hierarchy. As a result, early users reported a 21% improvement in their productivity, mainly thanks to the intuitive interface design.
We used Material UI’s library of pre-built components to streamline our design efforts and ensure consistency. We also incorporated custom icons using React-Icomoon, which accelerated development, as our client had requested.
Tech stack
Impact
Our secure, scalable clinical data platform with a user-centered UI/UX design was a hit with its users as it improved researchers’ productivity and efficiency. Here are just a few figures that demonstrate our solution’s impact:
Drop us a line to explore how we can help you create a user-focused platform while ensuring compliance.
Testimonials
We leverage cutting-edge technologies to develop powerful and innovative solutions.
The responsiveness, attention to detail and high-level communication from Darly Solutions was outstanding. Communication with the team was all online and was absolutely seamless. They were highly responsive, worked to tight deadlines and provided great feedback and communication throughout the entire project to ensure it remained on schedule and all quality requirements were being met. They exceeded all of our expectations, from design through to delivery.
LLC Darly Solutions's team performs well since the collaboration started. They are fluent in specific programming languages, they are also fluent in English, and they have a great response time. What is most unique and impressive about Darly Solutions is that everyone in the team is inherently communicative and understands the expertise of their respective fields. The team is very agile and can predict stress situations in which we work together to fix and maintain.
Darly Solutions' work so far inspires confidence, as they're skilled and trustworthy. The health platform is incredibly happy with their work. The team at Darly is communicative, responsive, and responsible. I’d recommend them to people looking to do more than build a simple little software.
By collaborating with Darly Solutions, there is a significant improvement in the project's quality of codes compared to their original codebase. They lead efficient project management and keep the client updated with their reports. They're a flexible team that delivers promising results. They don't just do as they're told, they actively participate in the design process, which is going to yield us a much better platform in the end.
Darly Solutions was able to develop the site with all functions running. The team was responsive throughout the engagement. They excelled at scheduling and delivered projects on the specified timeline. The whole team was a pleasure to work with. I am very glad that I entrusted them with my project, this is the best company for me!
The quality of their work is very high, and we get very good customer feedback on what our site looks like. They're very reliable and have a great overview of the technologies they're using. They meet our deadlines and are very accurate with their time estimations on a project. In addition, they're responsive and great with communication with a great command of English — it's very easy to talk to them. Moreover, we've integrated them into our development and scrum process, where we have daily stand-ups with their project manager and developers through Slack.
Related case study
Connect with us
.webp)
We are a tech partner that delivers ingenious digital solutions, engineering and vertical services for industry leaders powered by vetted talents.
