For the 4th time, national associations and companies active on medical devices organised from 4-8 June activities across Europe to promote the value of life-changing technologies.
This year MedTech focused on the self-management system for asthma developed under the myaircoach project., which has led to a mobile app for patients and a web platform for healthcare professionals accompanied by two sensor-based devices. MyAirCoach proposes a smartinhaler and biomonitor devices to detect the physiological, behavioural and environmental data of the patient and make them available through the app and the platform, allowing patients to anticipate a potential asthma crisis and use proper drugs to prevent it.
The smartphone app can prompt patients to take certain actions if necessary, may advise them to make an appointment with their doctor or, if indicated, may advise them to seek prompt attention such as a visit to an emergency room. Health professionals can use the data to identify patients who need training in inhaler use and to adjust personalised management plans to improve asthma treatment.
The myaircoach project officially ended on June 30th but project partners are continuing assessing the efficacy of the system in studies with patients and keep promote the results to grant future collaborations. We will soon release a video which will summarise the achievements of the project and the functionalities of the system, so keep in touch!
To learn more on living with severe asthma and how the myaircoach project will change asthma management go have a look at the MedTech’s blogs written by Toni Simpson, member of the Advisory Patient Forum and entitled “Asthma is a struggle – imagine carrying a 50kg stone around all day”,and by Professor Chung (Imperial College London), “Reinventing asthma inhalers for the digital age”.