By Clinical Research News Staff

November 7, 2019 | TrialAssure today launched the limited release of ANONYMIZE R, a first-in-class document anonymization software that uses machine learning, natural language processing, and artificial intelligence to protect patient privacy by automatically finding and removing personal information from text.

ANONYMIZE R is intended for reports and documents, and it gives users the ability to apply rules that substitute information, reducing the possibility of a reader identifying a clinical trial patient. Using a powerful risk algorithm builder, ANONYMIZE R generates a re-identification risk score and produces a risk assessment report, ensuring that the anonymized document meets an acceptable risk threshold.

“When clinical trial data and documents are released to the public or research community, they are often prepared through different channels and at different times—leading to inconsistencies in the anonymization process. These inconsistencies limit the value of the information, because they reduce the ability for other researchers to effectively analyze all the available data,” said Zach Weingarden, Product Solutions Manager, TrialAssure, in a press release. “ANONYMIZE R solves this problem by allowing users to apply the same techniques to all clinical trial outputs, taking a holistic approach that ensures both consistency and efficiency. Aligning with regulatory guidelines, it drives its effectiveness with sophisticated, modern technology—replacing the age-old manual redaction process.”

How It Works

Through machine learning and AI, TrialAssure ANONYMIZE R uses natural language processing to extract information whenever text is transformed and feeds this data into machine learning algorithms. In doing so, ANONYMIZE R improves over time in identifying where and how text should be replaced. Before finalizing changes, users are encouraged to review all suggested anonymizations within its flagging system. Additionally, ANONYMIZE R leverages rules and machine learning applied from TrialAssure’s data anonymization module, ANONYMIZE DS, when both applications are implemented together.

“The only efficient way for organizations to meet the upcoming anonymization regulations is to use the latest technology with machine learning and AI functionality that learns your company preferences in real time,” said Mohamad Zahreddine, Chief Information Officer of TrialAssure, in the same press release. “Major global health authorities are beginning to ask that clinical documents be anonymized. Using ANONYMIZE R allows sponsors and researchers to meet these requests in a tech savvy, but budget-friendly, manner.”