Smartphones Can Identify Triggers for COPD

Smartphone technology could enable patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to avoid environmental triggers and areas that might exacerbate their symptoms, according to recent research in the International Journal of Computational Intelligence Studies.

Scientists in Greece devised a system and framework that would connect to a network of sensors and deliver timely alerts to patients regarding pollution levels, weather, and environmental conditions.

“The system would protect patients by identifying these risky [elements],” explains study author Dr. Dimitris Koutsouris, a professor at the National Technical University of Athens in Greece. “For example, COPD patients should avoid going outside when pollution levels are high or when there is extreme heat and humidity. When patients avoid these situations, they tend to have fewer attacks (of) shortness of breath and coughing.”

Dust or pollutants from vehicles, factories, or power stations may also act as exacerbation triggers for COPD patients. Avoiding these kinds of triggers and dangerous environmental conditions is a crucial part of disease management.

Koutsouris and his research partner, Dr. Ionnis Kouris, tested the system architecture on the university’s campus with a range of sensors. “The system is quite easy to use and it is comprised of a smartphone and a couple of mini sensors—an ankle bracelet, a small case on the belt, and possibly [a sensor on the] arm or wrist,” Koutsouris says. “The patient would need to know how to use the smartphone (i.e. turn on the Bluetooth and start the app), but the rest is automatic.”

The framework would evaluate data provided by the embedded smartphone sensors, wearable wireless sensors, the Internet, and weather forecasts, and then use that information to formulate an alert that would warn the COPD patient about potentially risky environmental conditions in nearby areas.

This would allow patients to plan a safer alternate route or simply avoid those areas where their particular triggers are at high levels. The framework might also be connected to the their medical history for even greater accuracy.

Before the system is ready for widespread use, Koutsouris says it would need many improvements—including longer life batteries and smaller sensors. “We are planning to work with even “smarter” smartphones with 64-bit processors and activity recognition chips,” he says. “We suppose that accuracy will be greatly improved as sensor technology and integration (size, connectivity, battery life) improves.”

Koutsouris also says additional testing is needed before such a system is ready for primetime. “We must use this technology on a larger scale in order to prove the hypothesis,” he says. “We need to have an ecosystem put in place (i.e. working environmental sensors with accurate data).”

—Colleen Mullarkey

Reference

Kouris I, Koutsouris D. Identifying risky environments for COPD patients using smartphones and internet of things objects. Int J Comp Intel Stud. 2014;3(1):1-17.