Use of internet technologies for data acquisition in large clinical trials

Data acquisition for automated processing is a central aspect of clinical trials with large numbers of cases because of their extensive demand for manpower. Scientific data can be collected using data forms, which are created in Hypertext Markup Language and published on the Internet. The completed data form can be returned via E-mail or Common Gateway Interface-Script and forwarded into a study database. For the Internet-based data acquisition of a prospective multicenter trial (e.g., on endophthalmitis incidence after cataract extraction), we developed two special HTML forms that can be opened in the ophthalmology department's homepage. A large number of acquired anonymous data has been collected via Internet and automatically transferred into the trial database. The Internet provides a fast and easy avenue for the acquisition of scientific data. This method of data acquisition and data processing will become more common place in multicenter clinical trials.