Smartphone App Created to Optimize Care of Patients With Multiple Sclerosis

Experts have used rapid prototyping and human factors studies (HFS) to develop Floodlight MS, an application that can be used for remote functional assessment of multiple sclerosis (MS). These details were presented in a poster presented at the Consortium of MS Centers Annual Meeting. 

“In [MS], subtle disease progression starts early despite initial presentation. Early neurologic damage can be difficult to assess during infrequent clinical exams, making patient centered care critical to optimal disease management. Floodlight MS was developed and tailored to meet the needs of people living with MS,” wrote Jorge Cancela, PhD, MBA, Roche, Basel, Switzerland, and co-creators.

Dr Cancela et al used a Double Diamond model—a nonlinear model which explores subjects divergently before taking a convergent approach—to simplify conversations between patients with MS and healthcare professionals as well as translate their findings into a digital solution.

A total of 4 design concepts for the digital program were put through HFS for optimization and then presented to patients with MS. The researchers then refined the 4 concepts into one, and HFS comprising 12 patients with MS and 15 neurologists assessed the final piece.

“Rapid prototyping and HFS were used to iterate a digital health concept for MS care, ensuring usability and acceptability, by optimizing elements such as user interface and tone of voice, data visualization, configuration and settings, as well as safe and effective use according to the software as a medical device regulatory framework; this required finding the right balance between desirability and feasibility,” the researchers wrote.

Ultimately, this led to the development of Floodlight MS, a smartphone application that enables remote assessment of patient function and provides registered software as a medical device.

“Rapid prototyping and HFS were successfully used to develop Floodlight MS and led to an SaMD that is patient-centric in design but identified several trade-offs between patient needs, HCP expectations, technologic constraints and regulations,” Dr Cancela and colleagues concluded.

Cancela J, Costantino C, Goldberg J, et al. Floodlight MS: Utilizing rapid prototyping and human factors studies to develop a digital medical device for patient-centric MS care. Poster presented at: Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers 2021 Annual Meeting; October 25-28, 2021; Orlando, FL.