A collaborative RESTful cloud-based tool for management of chromatic pupillometry in a clinical trial

Chromatic Pupillometry represents a novel approach for the assessment of Inherited Retinal Diseases. A multi-centric pilot study with a sample of 40 paediatric patients has been designed, involving physicians and engineers. In this paper, the Electronic Medical Record, named ORÁO and specifically developed to collect ophthalmologic and pupillometric data, is presented. The platform is a cloud- based application, with a RESTful and three-tier architecture. These features make it available via web for the ophthalmologists involved in the project and working in two different University centres. The platform has been designed by the whole team and developed by the Department of Information Engineering of the University of Florence. The interfaces of the medical record have been evaluated in term of Usability, according to standards. An Heuristic Evaluation has been performed in the first stage of the design of the platform and the main severe usability issues have been addressed. The outcome of the project is a customized software solution. Moreover, the physicians have an excellent attitude toward the use of ORÁO and they perceive it as a useful tool to gather the data they collect with the aim of evaluating the overall progression of the pilot study.