MindTrial: An Intelligent System for Clinical Trials.

The recruitment of human subjects for clinical trials research is a critically important step in the discovery of new cures for diseases. However, the current recruitment methodologies are inherently inefficient. Considerable resources are expended in efforts to recruit adequate numbers of patient volunteers who meet the inclusion/exclusion criteria for clinical trials. Recruitment is particularly challenging for trials involving vulnerable, psychiatrically disordered groups. We have developed a prototype system, called MindTrial, that is based on an online model to enhance the efficiency and quality of recruitment of patients with psychiatric disorders for clinical research. The intelligent component of the MindTrial system can facilitate highly specific matches between clinical trial criteria and volunteers for self-enrollment of sufficient numbers of patient volunteers. We believe this system is particularly valuable in optimizing recruitment for clinical trial studies for development of new drugs.