BREATH-SENSE: Miniaturized plasma emission spectroscopy-based breath analysis for unobtrusive at-home monitoring and prediction of COPD exacerbations

患有慢性阻塞性肺疾病(COPD)的患者患有持续性的呼吸道阻塞，导致呼吸短促和极度疲劳。由于被称为急性发作的急性发作，患者反复住院，这在很大程度上导致了与慢性阻塞性肺疾病相关的发病率和死亡率。病情恶化的诊断只基于症状，诊断往往为时已晚。迫切需要一种可靠的技术，对COPD患者进行不显眼的、持续的家庭监测，以便能够及时预测和治疗病情恶化。呼吸感知联盟的目标是开发有史以来第一个手持呼吸测定仪，用于非侵入性检测呼吸生物标志物。RespiQ开发了一项突破性的基于等离子体发射光谱的呼气分析技术，并将与传感器开发专家SINTEF、用户体验和共同创造专家Nell和临床COPD专家KCL合作。该联盟将把创新的技术进步与以人为中心的用户体验研究结合起来，开发和验证用于COPD患者家庭监测的变革性临床工作流程。有了这种基于数字生物标记物的监测解决方案，患者和临床医生将受益于对病情恶化的可靠和及时预测，从而进行早期治疗干预，并防止高达95%的住院。呼吸感知工作流程将带来COPD管理的范式转变，从基于症状的延迟诊断转向在症状恶化之前的预防性家庭监测。归根结底，呼气测定仪技术是一种平台技术，可以适用于广泛的呼吸系统和胃肠道疾病，这些疾病也可以在家里得到更好的持续监测，如哮喘、肺癌和IBS，因为新的生物标志物可以结合到不同的疾病适应症中。因此，呼吸感知技术有可能改善数百万人的健康。

Patients suffering from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary disease (COPD) suffer from persistent airway obstruction causing shortness of breath and extreme fatigue. Patients are repeatedly hospitalized due to acute flare-ups known as exacerbations, which are largely responsible for the morbidity and mortality associated with COPD. Exacerbations are diagnosed based on symptoms only and diagnosis is often too late. There is an urgent need for a reliable technology for unobtrusive and continuous at-home monitoring of COPD patientsto enable timely exacerbation prediction and treatment. The Breath-Sense consortium aims to develop the first-ever hand-held breathalyzer for non-invasive detection of breath biomarkers. RespiQ has developed a breakthrough plasma emission spectroscopy-based breath analysis technology, and will collaborate with sensor development expert SINTEF, user-experience and co-creation expert NeLL and clinical COPD specialist KCL. The consortium will combine innovative technological advancements with human-centric user-experience research to develop and validate a transformative clinical workflow for at-home monitoring of COPD patients. With this digital biomarker based monitoring solution, patients and clinicians will benefit from reliable and timely prediction of exacerbations, leading to early treatment intervention and preventing up to 95% hospitalizations. The Breath-Sense workflow will deliver a paradigm shift in COPD management, from symptom-based delayed diagnosistowards preventative at-home monitoring prior to symptom worsening. Ultimately, the breathalyzer technology is a platform technology that can be applicable for a wide range of respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases that could also be monitored better continuously at home such as asthma, lung cancer, and IBS,since novel biomarkers can be incorporated for different disease indications. As such, the Breath-Sense technology has the potential to improve the health of millions of people.