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Got a headache? Harrisburg University is working on an app that tracks migraines
Ioannis Pashakis//March 11, 2020
Got a headache? Harrisburg University is working on an app that tracks migraines
Ioannis Pashakis//March 11, 2020
A group of Harrisburg University professors and students are working on a phone app that will track migraine symptoms and help doctors develop individual treatment plans for patients.
The app would allow patients to track their migraines and symptoms with a built-in assessment tool that would record the frequency of attacks, medication usage and triggers. The app would also collect data from participants that could be used in future studies.
Dr. Erin Buchanan, a cognitive analytics professor at the university, began the project after she was contacted by Missouri-based clinical research group Clinvest. Buchanan said she was interested in working on the project because it uses her skills in cognitive analytics and could provide a real impact for people suffering from migraines.
“(Clinvest) contacted me to discuss the creation of a measurement tool to assess the full migraine patient – not simply just head pain, but also all the associated symptoms that come with migraine including social life and work-related issues,” she said.
Buchanan is working on the project with Philip Grim II, a computer science professor at HU and Dr. K.D. Valentine of the Center for Health Decision Science at Harvard University.
The team was also awarded a research grant from Harrisburg University that has allowed Buchanan to bring on four HU students into the project to get first-hand experience in app development.
