Welshare Health, an industry-leading company in the DeSci (Decentralized Science) space, revealed it is developing the first decentralized application empowering individuals to contribute to AI-driven medical research. The app is built on Base and helps patients gain more control over their health data while personalizing their contributions to medical studies. The developers claim the Welshare Health app has the potential to revolutionize how medical research is conducted and healthcare is delivered.
Welshare Health launched the initial closed beta version of the dApp in May 2024. The application uses DeSci to harness the combined power of AI-driven medical research and Web3 technologies. Decentralized Science is an emerging field that uses blockchain and other decentralized technologies to democratize scientific research. While the app is still in closed beta testing, prospective users can sign up for the exclusive waiting list to gain early access.
Welshare Health believes traditional medical research is slow and faces significant challenges primarily because it has limited access to diverse datasets. Allegedly, medical research companies spend up to $600 billion yearly on data silos due to outdated clinical trial recruitment and the lack of patient behavior insights. Meanwhile, patients have little control over how companies use their health data, thus benefitting very little from participating in research studies.
The Welshare Health application eliminates intermediaries and connects patients directly with medical research. As a result, it enables individuals to control their health data and helps medical research organizations tackle the $600 billion health data market problem. The company leverages Web3 technologies, such as blockchain-based smart contracts, that secure data processing, ownership, and monetization while keeping information private.
The app will initially focus on diabetes research, connecting users to research initiatives through the company’s partners in diabetes patient advocacy groups. Nevertheless, the developers encourage individuals to sign up and complete a medical questionnaire even if they do not have diabetes. Their data will help expand the app's database as it moves into other therapeutic areas.
The Welshare Health team is aware of the many challenges that individuals living with type 1 diabetes (T1D) face, including non-personalized AID systems. This issue prevents them from effectively addressing the diverse physiological and lifestyle factors influencing blood glucose dynamics. Some of these problems include frustration, anxiety, and an increased burden of disease management.
Welshare Health aims to solve these issues via AI integration in developing hyper-personalized algorithms capable of revolutionizing AID technology. These algorithms would personalize insulin delivery, implement predictive analytics, leverage adaptive learning, and integrate other components, such as wearables, of the broader digital health ecosystem.
Welshare Health combines DeSci and AI within its app to transform patients' lives and give them more control over their medical issues. In the app's dynamic ecosystem, individuals become active participants in medical research rather than passive data contributors. The app uses decentralized governance mechanisms and smart contracts to incentivize users to share their data ethically and responsibly while ensuring a fair and equitable distribution of rewards.