Inviting participants to a study

To ensure active consent of everyone who has their brain activity recorded with a Kernel device, Kernel requires all study participants to create a Kernel Cloud account and use that account to accept invitation requests and authorize the use and analysis of data recorded during sessions in which they participate.

A participant’s consent to the collection and use of Kernel data is not meant to replace or otherwise imply informed consent to participate in a study.  It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain all necessary consents to participate in a particular study.

A researcher must add a Participant ID to a study in the Kernel Cloud Researcher Portal for each individual who is partaking in the study. Kernel generates unique invitation codes for each Participant ID to be shared with the actual participants. Once the participant enters that code into the Kernel App they are securely and confidentially linked to the corresponding Participant ID in the database.  

Submitting the invite code requires the participant to consent that data collected during their session to be used by Kernel and the organization.

While sessions can be acquired before a participant submits their Invite Code, data associated with that participant cannot be viewed, downloaded, or analyzed until their consent has been obtained. 

To add Participant IDs to a study:

1. From the Organization Home page, click the name of the study to open the Study page.
2. In the Participants tab, enter a value in the Add ID field and click the Add Participant ID button.
   A pop-up window appears with two buttons:
   • Copy invite code: copies just the alphanumeric code to your clipboard.
   • Copy Invitation: copies a prepared invitation to your clipboard, ready for pasting into an email or message to share with the participant.

3. Click one of the buttons.

The data are copied to your clipboard and the new item is added to the Participant ID List.

Participant IDs in this list appear in the pop-up menu in the Data Acquisition area of the Kernel Flow Desktop Application.

4. Repeat steps 1-3 to create as many Participant IDs as there are to be participants in the study.

To generate and distribute invitation codes:

1. Paste the invite code or invitation generated in step 2 above from your clipboard into a message (email, text, etc.) and share the code with the study participant.

Invite codes expire 72 hours after they are created. 

Once the participant enters that code into the Kernel App, the associated Participant ID no longer displays a clock icon, and recorded data may be analyzed and downloaded.

If an Invite code expires, you can generate a new one from the Study page in the Researcher Portal.

To generate a new invite code:

1. From the Organization Home page, click the name of the study to open the Study page.
2. In the Participants tab, click the Participant ID name for which you want to generate a new invite code.
   The Participant page opens.
   
3. Click the clock icon to the right of the Participant label at the top of the page.
   A pop-up window appears with two buttons:
   • Copy invite code: copies just the alphanumeric code to your clipboard.
   • Copy Invitation: copies a prepared invitation to your clipboard, ready for pasting into an email or message to share with the participant.
4. Click one of the buttons.
5. Paste the Invitation generated in step 3 into a message (email, text, etc.) and share the code with the participant.

Once the participant enters that code into the Kernel App, the associated Participant ID no longer displays a clock icon, and recorded data may be analyzed and downloaded.

To edit a Participant ID:

1. In the Participants tab of the Study page, click the Edit icon to the right of the Participant ID you want to modify.
   The Participant ID name becomes an editable field.

2. Type a new Participant ID.
3. Click the Save icon to save the new name.
   A confirmation dialog appears.

4. Click OK.

Changing a Participant ID updates the name in the pop-up menu in the Data Acquisition section of the Kernel Flow Desktop Application on the Kernel Flow PC. If necessary, click the Refresh button to update the screen to include items newly added in the Researcher Portal.

Changing a Participant ID modifies sessions previously recorded using that Participant ID.

To deactivate a Participant ID (admin only):

1. Navigate to the Participants tab of the Study page.
2. Click the Participant ID you want to deactivate.
3. On the Participant ID page, click the Deactivate Participant button in the lower right corner of the screen.
   
   A confirmation dialog appears.

4. Click OK.
   
   The Participant ID is deactivated. This action is permanent.

In the Participants tab of the study, an [no] icon appears to the left of the deactivated Participant ID.

Researchers are still able to view sessions associated with that Participant ID, but no new sessions can be created.