Clinical Trial Search with Google Spanner: Graph, SQL, Vector, and LLM All in One Query

Build a multi-model database that connects drugs, disorders, and clinical trials

Sixing Huang
13 min readSep 2, 2024

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Photo by RF._.studio from pexels.com.

A clinical trial is a research study that evaluates the safety, efficacy and effectiveness of drugs, medical devices, or treatments in human volunteers. It’s a multi-phased process that helps determine if a new intervention is safe and beneficial. For patients seeking innovative treatments, participating in a clinical trial can offer early access to potentially groundbreaking therapies, enhanced care, and the opportunity to contribute to medical progress.

Connecting patients with suitable clinical trials presents a significant challenge. Patients, particularly those unfamiliar with medical terminology, can find the wealth of information on resources like ClinicalTrials.gov overwhelming. Deciphering complex details like study plan, outcome measures, eligibility criteria, and risks is daunting. Additionally, connecting the dots between specific disorders, drugs, mechanisms of action (MOA), and relevant clinical trials is hard for most patients. Furthermore, recruiting enough qualified participants remains a major cost factor for clinical trial organizers. The strict eligibility criteria often narrow the pool of potential volunteers, making it…

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Sixing Huang

A Neo4j Ninja, German bioinformatician in Gemini Data. I like to try things: Cloud, ML, satellite imagery, Japanese, plants, and travel the world.