The purpose of this Phase II proposal is to develop software for an electronic calendar to allow daily entry of episodic data concerning menstrual cycle related events, symptoms, and fertility indicators into a hand-held personal computer (H/PC). The software, called Procycle, will be designed for use in women's health, both in clinical and research settings. In Phase I, a limited electronic menstrual calendar prototype was developed and tested. During Phase II, a more detailed version will be developed and customized for two specific marketable applications - (1) fertility awareness, and (2) diagnosis of premenstrual syndrome. Features will include (1) detailed daily symptom lists and algorithms to capture clinical fertility indicators; (2) chart and graph generators for visual representation of the data; (3) customization procedure for various applications; (4) detailed, context-sensitive help screens; (4) built in reminders to enter and transmit data; and (5) encrypted, wireless data transmission. As demonstrated in Phase I, electronic calendars proved superior to paper calendars in dramatically reducing data management efforts and documentation of actual data entry times. Procycle is a viable alternative to the paper method of data collection in women's health studies and an excellent tool for clinicians and individual women for many applications.
ProCycle can be used whenever collection of daily symptomatic occurrences are required. The possible markets for Procycle include universities, government agencies. the pharmaceutical industry, and the over 500 managed care insurers. Fertility studies are a primary application. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine lists over 15,000 practitioners specializing in fertility.
