Trial@home: promising results in clinical practice

‘We are currently performing several interesting studies involving patients with different types of cancer,’ says Dr Vasilis Exadaktylos, Senior Manager Wearable Solutions and New Services at CHDR. ‘One example is a study focused on patients undergoing surgical treatment for colon carcinoma at the Leiden University Medical Center. We compared two surgical procedures that are considered equivalent under Dutch guidelines, but our data showed that patients recovered more quickly following one of the treatments.'

The Trial@home platform is also being used in a study of bladder cancer patients, conducted in collaboration with Leiden University Medical Center and the University of Amsterdam. This research focuses on measuring quality of life using automated, continuous monitoring. Currently, these measurements are being compared against traditional patient questionnaires—the gold standard in quality of life research. Ultimately, the goal is to replace burdensome self-reporting with passive, continuous assessments that still provide meaningful insights.

Measuring quality of life is also central to a recently launched study in patients with pancreatic carcinoma receiving palliative care. ‘This study involves patients from multiple hospitals, so the logistics are more complex than in some of our other projects,’ says Exadaktylos. ‘But we expect to learn a lot from it.’

These studies also explore sleep as a key variable. Sleep quality not only reflects overall well-being but can also offer insights into the effects of medications—especially those acting on the nervous system, such as painkillers, psychiatric, or neurological drugs. ’We’re now validating and testing Trial@home applications in various healthcare settings,’ says Exadaktylos. ‘But it will also remain an important tool in our own drug research. I expect that in the coming years we will increasingly use Trial@home in sponsored studies, for example in neurology and psychiatry.’

Alongside its clinical applications, Trial@home is also undergoing significant technical development. An important step was taken in 2024, with the decision to develop and maintain all software and the platform itself in-house. ‘This step made us independent of external suppliers for the platform and software,’ Exadaktylos explains. ‘The only components we still source externally are the sensors—and that’s intentional. Sensor development isn’t our focus. But from an operational and technical standpoint, we are now entirely self-sufficient. That’s a significant achievement.’