Using Microservices to Design Patient-facing Research Software

Martin Chapman, Abigail G-Medhin, Isabel Sassoon, Nadin Kokciyan, Elizabeth Sklar, Vasa Curcin

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract / Description of output

With a significant amount of software now being developed for use in patient-facing studies, there is a pressing need to consider how to design this software effectively in order to support the needs of both researchers and patients. We posit that a microservice architecture—which offers a large amount of flexibility for development and deployment, while at the same time ensuring certain quality attributes, such as scalability, are present—provides an effective mechanism for designing such software. To explore this proposition, in this work we show how the paradigm has been applied to the design of CONSULT, a decision support system that provides autonomous support to stroke patients and is characterised by its use of a data-backed AI reasoner. We discuss the impact that the use of this software architecture has had on the teams developing CONSULT and measure the performance of the system produced. We show that the use of microservices can deliver software that is able to facilitate both research and effective patient interactions. However, we also conclude that the impact of the approach only goes so far, with additional techniques needed to address its limitations.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the IEEE 18th International Conference on eScience
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Pages44-54
Number of pages11
ISBN (Electronic)978-1-6654-6124-5
ISBN (Print)978-1-6654-6125-2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 14 Dec 2022
EventThe 18th IEEE International eScience Conference, 2022 - Salt Lake City, United States
Duration: 10 Oct 202214 Oct 2022
Conference number: 18
https://www.escience-conference.org/2022/

Conference

ConferenceThe 18th IEEE International eScience Conference, 2022
Abbreviated titleeScience 2022
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySalt Lake City
Period10/10/2214/10/22
Internet address

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • Microservice architectures
  • Decision support systems
  • Artificial intelligence

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