2.1 Pathology & Biomarkers 2.2 Stakeholder Protocol 2.3 Target Specifications 3.1 Precedent Benchmarking 4.1 Biophysical Modeling Needs Spec Template Interview Rubric ← Syllabus Week 2
Phase 1 · Clinical Needs Specification

Worksheet 2.2: Clinical Stakeholder Interview Protocol

Design a structured clinical inquiry protocol for engaging neurologists, neuroradiologists, neurosurgeons, and clinical technologists. Uncover diagnostic ambiguities, workflow friction points, false-positive risk thresholds, and criteria for clinical actionability.

● Draft synced locally
Clinical Interview Methodology: Medical specialists think in terms of diagnostic risk, liability, patient compliance, and actionable treatment alterations:
1 Interview Strategy & Team Metadata
Define the target pathology, clinical interview objective, and target clinical departments.
2 Target Stakeholder Profiles
Review and customize the clinical roles you will query. Different specialists have fundamentally divergent priorities and constraints.
🩺 Clinical Neurologist
Diagnostic Odyssey & Triage: How long do patients wait before referral? What symptoms trigger an advanced scan? What is the false-negative impact?
🩻 Diagnostic Neuroradiologist
Image Quality & Artifacts: What sequence artifacts ruin readings? What is the maximum tolerable scan time before motion corruption? How is the report actionable?
🧠 Neurosurgeon
Surgical Margins & Navigation: What spatial precision is required (1 mm vs 5 mm)? How does non-invasive data register to stereotactic neuronavigation systems?
⚡ MRI/EEG Technologist
Patient Ergonomics & Setup: How many patients reject the scanner due to claustrophobia? How long does electrode placement take? How are motion artifacts handled?
3 Semi-Structured Interview Question Bank
Formulate targeted questions across the four critical dimensions of clinical translation. Ensure questions are open-ended, non-leading, and probe quantitative boundaries.
DOMAIN A: CURRENT DIAGNOSTIC BOTTLENECKS Primary Target: Neurologist / Neuroradiologist
"Walk us through your current diagnostic workflow for a patient suspected of [Target Condition]. Where do cases get stuck, delayed, or misdiagnosed?"
Purpose: Identifies the exact step in the clinical care pathway where existing imaging or electrophysiology modalities fail.
DOMAIN B: CLINICAL WORKFLOW & ERGONOMICS Primary Target: Neuroradiologist / Technologist
"What is the maximum tolerable examination duration and setup time for this patient population before patient compliance degrades or clinic schedules break down?"
Purpose: Bounds physical scan duration, patient tolerability (e.g. pain, tremor, claustrophobia), and operational throughput.
DOMAIN C: ACTIONABILITY & CLINICAL DECISION TRIGGERS Primary Target: Neurologist / Neurosurgeon
"What specific threshold of quantitative biomarker confidence would actually change your clinical management plan, rather than just being an interesting research finding?"
Purpose: Prevents building a technology that outputs metrics clinicians ignore. Discovers the true clinical decision trigger.
DOMAIN D: ERROR TOLERANCE (SENSITIVITY VS. SPECIFICITY) Primary Target: Neurologist / Neuroradiologist / Surgeon
"What is worse in this clinical context: a False Positive or a False Negative, and what are the respective medical and legal consequences of each?"
Purpose: Determines whether your system must be tuned for high sensitivity (screening) or high specificity (ruling in for invasive surgery/biopsy).
4 Stakeholder Interview Log & Primary Data
Log scheduled or completed interviews. Capture direct quotes, unvarnished clinical feedback, and concrete engineering constraints.
Stakeholder & Title Clinical Specialty Date / Setting Key Clinical Insight / Direct Quote Actionable Engineering Constraint Action
5 Cross-Stakeholder Synthesis & Trade-Off Analysis
Synthesize your interviews. Where do stakeholders agree, and where do their demands directly conflict?