Asthma Break Through
Asthma, a chronic respiratory condition marked by attacks of spasms in the bronchial tubes of your lungs that causes difficulty breathing, affects an estimated 330 million people world wide. Current treatments for the condition vary but often times they rely on the judgment of the affected person. How severe is this attack? How many puffs of my inhaler should I take? The people at GSK are working to change that with a series of gadgets designed to measure and report the patient’s health data and send the information to their phone. These gadgets are transforming and improving medicines, treatments, and ultimately the health of the patient.
The Gadgets
GSK’s new gadgets are currently in the trial phase of production. During this time they are trying to report and record as much data as accurately as possible. These digital tools include adherence monitors, biosensors, and electronic diaries. GSK’s inhaler works in partnership with Propeller Health, a medical technology company. They have created a mountable digital device that can be attached to an inhaler and records usage data that is then sent to the patient’s smart phone via an app. This helps patients identify different triggers by logging when and where the attack took place. In the same way a sensor can be used to assess the amount of rescue medication a person should be using. If a person is over using a medication it can raise concerns about the efficacy of the drug being tested. This information can be useful for patients and medical professionals alike. Health care professionals will be able to see when and if a patient took their inhaler as prescribed. GSK’s wearable technology is also designed to monitor an array of other factors that can affect a patient’s body. For example, it monitors a person’s sleep quality and what sort of activity a person did during a day. This information is directly logged without relying on the patient to record any data. This is key for the trial setting in order to to ensure that the patient data is recorded as accurately as possible with the highest standards. This also minimizes costs associated with running clinical trials. GSK’s new gadgets are paving the way for better medications and more accurate treatments for asthma sufferer’s world wide.