Dying of a brain tumour, Frederik van den Broek had one
last wish on his "bucket list": serving as his own guinea pig
to build a smartphone app for fellow cancer patients.
Now Dutch neurologists say the input from Van den Broek,
who died late last month aged 41, has been invaluable in
creating what is believed will be the world's most advanced
mobile-based app for cancer patients.
with a few simple clicks to track and update appointments
such as for radio and chemo therapy, to help remember
who their doctors are and even to manage the myriad pills
they must take.
It will also allow patients to input data -- such as when they
have had an epileptic seizure -- and "talk" to doctors about
their condition without having to come into hospital.
Van den Broek told AFP a few days before his death that his
idea for a specialised "brain cancer app" was "born out of
pure frustration".
"The hospital gave me a printout of appointments, which
medicines to take, and when, as well as a diagnosis of how
long I had to live," Van den Broek said in an emailed
interview, his last.
"I lost the printout within an hour. These things happen
when you've lost a large part of your brain and your short-
term memory has gone to pieces," he said.
Memory loss
Van den Broek was intensively involved in the app's
development, with himself as the guinea pig: deciding the
features it should have and even the colours to be used to
give patients maximum ease of use.
"Brain tumour patients often suffer from loss of cognitive
abilities, for instance memory loss and changes in
behaviour," said Jaap Reijneveld, a neurologist at
Amsterdam's Free University Medical Centre (VUMC), who
is helping with the app's development.
"This app will be of huge support to patients, particularly
those suffering from glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer
that's often highly malignant," Reijneveld of the VUMC's
Brain Tumour Centre told AFP.
"Patients have a massively complicated treatment schedule,
and the app, the most advanced to date, will help them
remember things, but more importantly give constant
feedback to us as doctors on the patient's condition," he
said.
The app complements a growing worldwide trend in which
new digital technology allows patients to manage their
diseases from home, easing the burden on overstretched
healthcare facilities.
Simple setup
Easy to set up, MindApp has four sections that can be
accessed by a simple touch on a smartphone screen.
An appointment calendar is updated automatically once
confirmed with the hospital; secondly, an alarm reminds the
patient to take his or her medicines and is turned off once a
pill has been taken.
Thirdly, the app features a daily logbook in which patients
can make notes of their condition and record episodes such
as epileptic seizures. The information is updated in the
patient's file which doctors are able to access.
The fourth section provides feedback from doctors based
on logbook input, for instance instructions to increase or
lower the dosage of medications.
'Bucket list'
Vincent van Dijk, who collaborated with the terminally ill
Van den Broek on MindApp's design until the day he died,
said he hoped the first version would be available from so-
called "app stores" within the next three months.
Van Dijk told AFP the project is financed through crowd
funding and that some 70,000 euros ($80,000) was needed
to finalise MindApp's development.
Donations so far have totalled some 60,000 euros, and IT
giant Microsoft has also offered to help with development,
Van Dijk said.
Sadly for Van den Broek, it is too late to benefit from the
fruit of his labours.
"It's a pity I won't be able to use the app. But it gives me
the feeling that at least my illness wasn't for nothing," he
told AFP.
"Some people go on a world cruise or make a 'bucket list'
when they hear they're going to die," he said.
"The MindApp is my bucket list."
Source:emirates247
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