A new French application and its website, called RDK®, offer new hope for the early diagnosis of rare diseases. Available since June 2023, they deserve some explanation.
- A French application and a website, called RDK®, have been available since June 2023 to allow earlier detection of rare diseases.
- This early diagnosis medical tool will allow the doctor to quickly refer to an expert center, and the patient to benefit from appropriate monitoring and care.
- New features should enrich the French RDK® application and website. An evolution for availability in other countries should see the light of day.
Rare Disease Knowledgeor more simply RDK®, was launched this summer. But what is it ? It is in fact an application intended to help doctors diagnose rare diseases and direct them as quickly as possible to the most suitable expert center. This tool should therefore be a plus for doctors but also for patients.
Rare diseases: often a long and difficult diagnosis
As recalled on his site the Ministry of Health and Prevention, diseases are said to be rare when they affect one person in 2,000. In France, this corresponds to less than 30,000 patients per pathology and therefore more than 3 million people affected by one of the 7,000 known rare diseases.
Unfortunately, the diagnosis of a rare disease is usually made after a long waiting period for the patient. In fact, this type of disease is often little known to health professionals. But these are most often serious pathologies which affect the quality of life of patients. It is therefore necessary to make a diagnosis as early as possible in order to put in place appropriate care and support.
This is the reason why French private and public establishments (Orphanet (INSERM database), Tekkare®, As We Know® (creator of health applications) and 2 laboratories (Amylyx and Pfizer) have joined forces to create this medical device, available since June 20, 2023.
Rare diseases: a regularly updated database
This medical diagnostic tool makes it possible to obtain numerous regularly updated data concerning several rare diseases. This access to the latest available data should reduce the diagnostic wandering usually encountered for this type of uncommon pathologies.
RDK® is accessible via Internet and also on the phone using an application (download via Google Play and App Store). This allows the doctor to have a database that is easy to access and available wherever he is. The early diagnosis of these rare diseases should thus be facilitated.
Rare diseases: RDK®, a site and an application for adapted care
This connected medical device has 3 main features :
- Perform a search by sign or symptom to direct the healthcare professional in a few seconds to a first level of identification of potential rare diseases.
- Suggest expert centers capable of diagnosing and providing treatment for the rare disease(s) identified.
- Access up-to-date knowledge on rare diseases through summary sheets.
Takkare®, initiator of the project with As We Know®, another French company, indicated that RDK® should further evolve with the arrival of new features. They also envisage that its usefulness will evolve towards other countries.