Digital bridges in oncology: development of a patient app for networking with GPs and specialist clinics

Context

The German healthcare system is characterized by a fragmented data landscape: health information is collected and managed in a decentralized and isolated manner by different players. Especially in oncological care - with its complex, interdisciplinary and often long-term treatment processes - this often leads to serious information gaps.

In rural regions, where the distances to oncology centers or specialized clinics are often long and arduous, general practitioners play a central role in the continuous care of cancer patients. They not only act as the first point of contact, but often accompany their patients through various phases of the disease over long periods of time. Nevertheless, they often lack specific oncological expertise or structured access to current guidelines and expert opinions.

In order to improve the quality of care in these regions and close information gaps, this master's thesis aims to develop a patient app that specifically connects oncology patients with general practitioners and oncology specialists. The app should inform patients about appointments, treatment steps, and their current treatment status, thus enabling continuous support throughout the entire therapy process.

Tasks

• You familiarize yourself with the system and explore possibilities for its implementation in your literature research.
• You create mockups of the app and present them to the medical project partners.
• You implement your concept as a prototype.
• You evaluate the practical suitability of your implementation, for example in one of our ongoing studies.

Requirements

• You are studying electrical engineering, computer science, medical technology, mechatronics or a related course.
• You are committed, motivated and have a careful and conscientious way of working.
• You have a keen interest in the development of smartphone apps and ideally already have some experience in this area.