CMIC HOLDINGS Co., Ltd. has adopted a voice recognition solution from NEC Corporation for an iPhone App that assists in clinical trials. A pilot program for the App began in March 2018 using voice recognition technology from "NEC the WISE," a portfolio of advanced Artificial Intelligence technologies from NEC, for data entry and task tracking that involves over 50 Clinical Research Coordinators (CRCs) as part of CMIC's Site Management Organization (SMO) program. From April 2018, the program will be expanded to include CRCs nationwide, to validate the quality and level of workflow improvements.

Clinical trials that are required for drug development involve the entry of massive amounts of data, including a subject's height, weight, medicines taken, lab test results, etc. Until now, this data was input by hand, and was prone to typing errors and data omission. To prevent these errors, several CRCs and their supervisors had to review and check for errors, making their job extremely troublesome.

The voice assisted App, which has been co-developed by CMIC and NEC, is designed to reduce data entry errors or omissions. For example, the voice guidance system will prevent access to the next section until the current section has been completely filled out. In addition, for data values that are significantly different from others, a voice warning will be given to notify of the potential error.

Going forward, CMIC and NEC aim to utilize AI in order to analyze the data that has been compiled to improve the quality and efficiency of clinical trials. Furthermore, this data and the CRCs' know-how could be combined to detect potential side effects and adherence issues of prescription drugs, and remind patients and medical professionals of such events proactively.