Accompanying Apple Watch, a medical surprise

In a surprise announcement that overshadowed the presentation of its new Apple Watch -- for the health care industry, at least -- Apple unveiled a new biomedical platform called ResearchKit. The platform, which will be available on the latest version of iPhone software in April, will allow any iPhone user to enroll in tests of new drugs and therapies by downloading apps from hospitals and providers who are recruiting patients. Hardware already available on the iPhone, like the voice recorder and motion sensor, will then be used to measure health outcomes -- everything from steps taken to testing whether someone’s voice patterns are indicative of Parkinson’s disease. It works with HealthKit, which Apple introduced in 2014.

“There are hundreds of millions of iPhone users that would contribute [to research] if it was easier to do so,” said Jeff Williams, Apple’s senior vice president of operations. “ResearchKit turns HealthKit into a diagnostic tool.” ResearchKit, developed with leading research institutes that contributed knowledge on Parkinson’s disease, asthma, diabetes and cancers, will provide surveys and informed consent forms where users can sign up to participate in a trial. It will also provide programs for tests using iPhone hardware.