A neonatal trial that spans hospital and intensive care
One of the trials currently preparing to go live at Spiral is PLATIPUS, an Australasian platform trial led out of the University of Melbourne, focused on improving outcomes for babies at risk of preterm birth, or born preterm.
PLATIPUS crosses maternal care, neonatal care, and intensive care. Depending on the situation, the participant may be the mother, the baby, or both. Consent pathways and clinical workflows differ for each trial participant type. And the standard of care and intervention methods across different settings will often differ, too.
“Our work starts by thinking beyond what is written on paper and into how the study, practitioners, and participants will behave in the real world.” - Gosia.
Sometimes, trial teams are focused on the data they need right now, particularly in an ICU setting. What we bring is experience in how those decisions will affect patient care and the data that clinicians and researchers will need later.
How a field is structured, what answer options are available, and how that data will work in analysis. That thinking matters early in the trial design process. Small design decisions don’t just affect usability in what can become a life-saving moment. They also shape how confidently data can be interpreted and analysed later.
What might feel like a simple decision at the outset of a trial setup can create major constraints once a study is underway, both for clinical decision-making and for the integrity of the dataset over time.
PLATIPUS also highlights the challenge of supporting multiple user journeys across different clinical environments, while keeping the underlying system consistent.
“The protocol might look neat on paper, but once sites start using the system, you see how different people experience it. That wider lens helps us design better for future trials, too.”
Over time, patterns emerge. For example, where users get lost, where workflows create friction, or where a question makes sense in one hospital setting and country but not another. And that experience carries forward.
“Our work is not just building what is asked for. It is helping research teams think through how the study will need to perform in practice.”
“We can do the complex work, but we can also do the basic things really well, too.
PLATIPUS is expected to launch in Australia first, followed by New Zealand. We’ll share more updates as the study goes live and onboarding progresses.
