TL;DR: dTrials is a hardware and software stack for distributed to fully decentralized clinical trials by MCS Data Labs and Transience.

Vision

In an era where technology is reshaping healthcare, our team proposes an innovative approach to revolutionize clinical trials. Our vision is to create a new paradigm in clinical trials - one that is more inclusive, equitable, and efficient. By decentralizing the research process and employing innovative technologies, we strive to open up new avenues for scientific discovery and healthcare advancements, making clinical research accessible to all.

Issue Statement

Our project is designed to address several pivotal challenges in the field of clinical trials. We are targeting the substantial difficulty in accessing and effectively utilizing real-world health data, which is often constrained within isolated data silos. This situation impedes its potential use in health innovation and research, further complicated by organizational, legal, and technical barriers. Additionally, we are tackling issues such as low participant engagement and compliance in clinical trials, leading to incomplete or biased data. Furthermore, we are focusing on overcoming the limited accessibility of traditional trials, which often present geographical and logistical barriers that restrict diverse population participation. Finally, our project aims to address data privacy concerns, a significant hurdle in convincing participants to share personal health data. By introducing a decentralized model for clinical trials and enabling direct data sharing from individuals, we intend to enhance the efficiency of data collection, improve participant engagement, and foster more inclusive and diverse research.

Solution

Our proposed solution integrates advanced technology and a decentralized approach to address key challenges in clinical trials. It encompasses:

• Advanced Technology Integration: Utilizing MCS Data Labs' proprietary smartwatches equipped with sensors for comprehensive bio and environmental data collection. This technology, supported by custom software and AI/XAI algorithms, ensures efficient data capture and processing.
• Decentralized Clinical Trials Infrastructure: Shifting from traditional models, we aim to create an open-source platform that democratizes the research process, allowing diverse groups to conduct their own clinical trials.
• Emphasis on Privacy and Data Sovereignty: By incorporating Web3 technologies like sharding and ZK proofs, we ensure enhanced privacy and data security, giving users complete control over their data.
• Tokenomics for Participant Compliance: Introducing a tokenomics model, we incentivize participants through smart contracts, promoting adherence to trial protocols.
• Community-Driven Research Ecosystem: Implementing a DAO structure, our project allows community members, including patients and researchers, to actively participate in the research process, fostering a democratic, privacy-preserving approach.

Background & Upcoming Plans

Our team's background in developing a privacy-preserving, unbiased clinical trial platform began with a pivotal moment at the ZuHack event in Istanbul last November. During this event, we focused on enhancing the privacy aspects of our technology while conducting a small-scale pilot with proprietary smart devices. Our efforts and innovative approach were recognized, as we won two awards in the DeSci and ZK categories. This success validated our initial hypotheses and set the foundation for our ongoing work. Building on this momentum, we are now preparing for a more extensive pilot at the next Zuzalu, aiming to further advance our platform and its capabilities. For more details on our submission at ZuHack, please visit the DoraHacks project page.

We plan to conduct decentralized clinical trials during Zuzalu 2024. Aiming to equip residents with our wearables, while remotely collecting and monitoring data in a privacy-preserving fashion over 2 months.

To prepare for this, we will run a pilot in collaboration with Lemonade DAO and their network state protocol in Zanzibar to further test the infrastructure in May/June 2024.

Collaboration Synergy

MCS Data Labs: Bringing a wealth of expertise in hardware research and development, MCS Data Labs contributes its comprehensive skills in custom hardware, software, and AI/XAI algorithm development. This expertise is crucial for the accurate and efficient collection and processing of bio and environmental data through state-of-the-art wearable technology.

Transience Labs: With its innovative vision of “mintable moments”, Transience Labs adds a unique perspective to the project. Their focus on open-source protocol architecture ensures that the infrastructure developed is not only robust and scalable but also accessible to a wide range of users and researchers.

Why dTrials need blockchain technology?

Our platform's reliance on blockchain is not just a feature; it's a fundamental necessity to ensure the highest standards of data integrity, privacy, and security throughout its lifecycle. The integration of various cryptographic methods is pivotal in fortifying our ecosystem's security and maintaining its tamper-proof nature. These methods are intricately woven into different components of our platform, each serving a critical role. An in-depth description can be found here.