Miniaturized plasma emission spectroscopy-based breath analysis for unobtrusive at-home monitoring and prediction of COPD exacerbations

Introduction

Patients suffering from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary disease (COPD) experience persistent airway obstruction, leading to shortness of breath and extreme fatigue. These patients are frequently hospitalized due to acute flare-ups known as exacerbations, which significantly contribute to the morbidity and mortality associated with COPD.

Diagnosis Challenges

Exacerbations are diagnosed based on symptoms alone, and this diagnosis often occurs too late. There is an urgent need for a reliable technology that allows for unobtrusive and continuous at-home monitoring of COPD patients. This technology would enable timely exacerbation prediction and treatment.

Breath-Sense Consortium

The Breath-Sense consortium aims to develop the first-ever hand-held breathalyzer for non-invasive detection of breath biomarkers.

Key Collaborators

• RespiQ: Developed a breakthrough plasma emission spectroscopy-based breath analysis technology.
• SINTEF: Expert in sensor development.
• NeLL: Specializes in user-experience and co-creation.
• KCL: Clinical COPD specialist.

The consortium will combine innovative technological advancements with human-centric user-experience research to develop and validate a transformative clinical workflow for at-home monitoring of COPD patients.

Benefits of the Solution

With this digital biomarker-based monitoring solution, both patients and clinicians will benefit from:

1. Reliable and timely prediction of exacerbations.
2. Early treatment intervention.
3. Prevention of up to 95% of hospitalizations.

The Breath-Sense workflow will represent a paradigm shift in COPD management, moving from symptom-based delayed diagnosis to preventative at-home monitoring prior to symptom worsening.

Future Applications

Ultimately, the breathalyzer technology is a platform that can be applied to a wide range of respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases. These include:

• Asthma
• Lung cancer
• IBS

Novel biomarkers can be incorporated for different disease indications, allowing for better continuous monitoring at home. As such, the Breath-Sense technology has the potential to improve the health of millions of people.