IP Requirement: Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) IP
Experience Requirement:
– Mechanical Design
– User-friendly Design
– Rapid Prototyping
– Potentially electrical and software engineering
Problem Description
Asthma is the most common chronic health condition in childhood, affecting about 10% of youth in the U.S. While asthma can be well-controlled with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), up to 80% of children and adolescents do not adhere to treatment. Low ICS adherence can lead to asthma exacerbations, resulting in emergency department (ED) visits, hospitalizations, and deaths. Many young people simply forget to take their medication, while others feel stigmatized by having asthma or using an inhaler. Research has shown that digital inhalers can be used to remotely monitor medication use, offer reminders, and provide feedback to patients, families, and clinicians. While digital inhalers can increase medication adherence and improve asthma outcomes, existing devices are not designed for children or teens. The device itself attaches to the inhaler as a separate piece that can be easily lost or placed on the wrong inhaler. The companion mobile app that is currently available on the market does not have a child-friendly user interface. The inhaler itself is unattractive and cumbersome, and the medication has an unpleasant taste. We hope to reimagine the smart asthma inhaler so that it meets the needs of today’s youth.
We envision a sleek, modern inhaler that can be personalized with custom designs (for example, silicone sleeves or skins). It would be ideal to have one universal device that fits all types of inhaled medication. In the current state, each inhaler brand is compatible with a different type of sensor. Often, the patient’s pharmacy will dispense a unique or generic brand, rendering their existing sensor incompatible with their new inhaler. This can create a gap in monitoring, reduce ICS adherence, and negatively impact their asthma control.
Here are some other Smart Inhalers on the market (or discontinued):
Propeller Health: A Precision Digital Health Company
The Hailie™ Solution Helps Patients Track Their Inhaler Usage
These devices lack any type of motivational hook to engage children and teens (such as games and avatars). We hope to create a companion app that is designed for youth, by youth (instead of scaling down the existing technology which was made for older adults). We’d like to integrate a flavored mouthpiece into the design of the inhaler so that the medication doesn’t taste so awful. The information gathered from the device would be shared with the patient and caregivers (parent, guardian, and/or clinical team) to better understand their usage patterns and help them overcome barriers to adherence.
