Pneumowave

Pictured: Pneumowave

Designed to detect OIRD caused by either prescription or illicit drugs, whether in a healthcare facility or at home, its aim is to stop all preventable deaths from opioid use.

Together we developed a proof-of-concept where physicians can enroll patients in remote respiratory monitoring. This includes a dashboard for viewing repiratory data and mobile app prototype that demonstrates how patients can activate monitoring and trigger an alert if they experiencing dangerous breathing activity.

Understanding The Opioid Epidemic

Towards the end of the 20th century, misinformation by a number of pharmaceutical companies stating that their opioid painkilling products were not addictive led to a surge in prescribing across the USA for patients with chronic pain.

At the same time, wider availability led to an increase in the number of people with emotional trauma and mental health conditions turning to opioids for their euphoric effects and becoming rapidly dependent.

Misuse of prescription and illicitly manufactured opioids is now the largest cause of death in most developed countries. In the USA, the result is a public health emergency that killed more than 70,000 people last year (CDC).

In 2020, 91,799 drug overdose deaths occurred in the United States.*

* https://wonder.cdc.gov/

Worldwide, about 0.5 million deaths are attributable to drug use.
More than 70% of these deaths are related to opioids.
Opioids affect the parts of the brain that control breathing – a condition known as Opioid Induced Respiratory Depression (OIRD)
In the vast majority of cases, OIRD is inadvertent and accidental. Unless identified at an early stage, it is lethal.
With highly effective antidotes available, if OIRD can be identified at an early stage, nearly all of these deaths may be preventable.

Narcan and Naloxone nasal sprays

More than 932,000 people have died since 1999 from a drug overdose.

Opioid Induced Respiratory Depression (OIRD)

OIRD occurs when ventilation is inadequate to perform needed respiratory gas exchange. By definition it causes an increased concentration of carbon dioxide and respiratory acidosis.

Time is critical when OIRD occurs. Respiratory activity weakens and slows to a creep; the blood is starved for oxygen and poisoned by carbon dioxide. Emergency personnel will often administer narcan and oxygen.

Every second lost risks brain cells or someone's life.

Credit: https://bpspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/bph.15580

Respiratory Monitoring with Pneumowave

PneumoWave is a remote monitoring platform for patients at risk of OIRD. It aims to continuously monitor and accurately detect respiratory depression.

Using a wearable sensor, respiratory activity is recorded and monitored remotely, generating an alert if dangerous respiratory activity is detected.

Designed to detect OIRD caused by either prescription or illicit drugs, whether in a healthcare facility or at home, its aim is to stop all preventable deaths from opioid use.

Together, we developed a proof-of-concept where physicians can enroll patients in remote respiratory monitoring. This includes a dashboard for viewing repiratory data and mobile app prototype that demonstrates how patients can activate monitoring that allows for emergency services to be notified if they experience OIRD.

The Process

We started by creating a database for storing respiratory data. Then we created patient onboarding. The physicians could then prescribe a Pneumowave sensor and assign it to the patient.

We created a web app for viewing real-time respiratory data in a dashboard.
The doctors and patients can also test the system this way.

Finally, we designed a mobile app that patients could use to activate monitoring sessions.

We submitted the prototype to a usability study and sought feedback from patients, physicians, opinion leaders and stakeholders.