Asthma breakthrough in the making
An estimated 300 million people around the world suffer from Asthma. A personal monitoring device that enables asthma sufferers to determine appropriate medication levels may soon be on the market thanks to a partnership between researchers at EE’s Microsystem Technology Lab (MST) and the medical technology company Aerocrine.
Asthma is a growing global health problem, affecting 5-10 percent of the world’s population. According to MST researcher Niclas Roxhed, one of the benefits of the personal asthma monitor would be easier determination of patients’ individual medication needs:
“Asthma medications typically contain cortisone, which is associated with steroid side effects. Since our monitor determines exactly how much medication an individual needs, these side effects would be kept to a minimum. An added benefit would be reduced cost to the health-care system, since patients would require fewer visits to the doctor”.
A few years ago, Aerocrine’s founders designed an instrument for monitoring inflammation of the respiratory tract, the primary determinant of asthma. The instrument measures the nitrogen monoxide content of exhaled air – higher readings indicate greater inflammation. It provides an accurate diagnosis in a matter of minutes and significantly enhances standard approaches to assessing lung condition.
MST’s role involves development of a miniaturised sensor for measuring the nitrogen monoxide content of exhaled air. Since accurate diagnosis will involve concentration differences at the parts per billion level, the sensor must be extremely sensitive. Exposure of the sensor to the gas will trigger a chemical reaction that generates an electrical current.
The partnership between MST and Aerocrine has resulted in a drastic drop in the formerly prohibitive cost of producing the instrument for personal use. The project, which has been under way for two and a half years, is funded in part by the Swedish governmental agency Vinnova and constitutes part of a larger KTH initiative with regard to health-care technology, comprising five newly formed partnerships that draw on KTH’s varied research expertise. The core idea is to forge ties with industry as a way of promoting creativity and innovation in health-care technology.
Niclas Roxhed finds a greater reward in contributing to the good of society than in pursuing pure research. He regards collaboration with the private sector as a given.
“When a company decides to develop one of our prototypes, it shows that we that we have made good use of our resources. The projects we have implemented in collaboration with private business have been our most successful ones, because they have been based on a clear needs analysis.”
“Fewer emergency and follow-up visits by asthma patients and reduced medication use entail savings for the public health sector.”
KTH is contributing technological expertise in connection with the development of the asthma monitor, while Aerocrine is focusing on the business prospects. According to Hans Peter Starck-Johnson, Project Coordinator at Aerocrine, Sweden is at the forefront of medical technology research. He stresses the importance of market factors.
“A product needs to have market potential. If we think that KTH’s prototype meets this requirement, then we will market it.”
He stressed that an asthma monitor that allows patients to accurately determine medication dosages offers economic as well as medical benefits:
“Fewer emergency and follow-up visits by asthma patients and reduced medication use entail savings for the public health sector.”
More information, contact Niclas Roxhed, 08-790 9143, niclas.roxhed@ee.kth.se.