I-Corps: Next Generation Digital Health Solution for Patients & Respiratory Disease Companies

超过50%的哮喘和慢性阻塞性肺疾病（COPD）患者无法使用吸入药物，这是控制哮喘和COPD健康和经济负担的最大障碍。目前改善药物使用的方法是无效的，使用起来太麻烦，而且广泛采用的成本太高。这个I-Corps团队开发了一种便宜但准确的流量传感器，与现有的吸入器设备集成，并通过蓝牙技术与智能手机配对;从而为哮喘和COPD提供了一种监测和管理工具。它为患者和医疗服务提供者提供了巨大的价值，因为它简化了数据和疾病管理，使COPD治疗对个体患者和医疗服务提供者来说更实惠和可持续。在I-Corps计划期间，该团队将制定可行的商业计划并验证市场假设。为了实现这一目标，该团队将进行市场研究，以了解其主要客户（即疾病管理实体）的需求范围。该小组预计将在大约22至30个疾病管理实体进行100次访谈。在项目结束时，团队希望详细了解潜在客户的需求，以及谁最有可能成为第一批客户。该团队还希望详细说明如何设计其最小可行产品以满足客户的需求。有了这些知识，该团队希望加快技术和分析开发，将进入FDA准备设备。此外，这种并行的客户开发路径将为投资者评估拟议产品的可寻址市场和市场规模提供明确的证据。

More than 50% of patients with asthma and Chronic Obstructive Lung disease (COPD) fail to use their inhaled medication, which is the most recognized obstacle for controlling the health and economic burden of asthma and COPD. Current methods to improve medication use are ineffective, too cumbersome to use and expensive for widespread adoption. This I-Corps team has developed an inexpensive, yet accurate flow sensor integrated with existing inhaler devices and paired via Bluetooth technology to a smartphone; thereby, providing a monitoring and management tool for asthma and COPD. It provides substantial value for patients and healthcare providers as it streamlines data and disease management and makes COPD treatment more affordable and sustainable for both, individual patients and healthcare providers.During the I-Corps program, this team will develop a viable business plan and validate market assumptions. To accomplish this goal, the team will conduct market research to understand the spectrum of needs of its primary customers which are disease management entities. The team anticipates conducting 100 interviews in approximately 22 to 30 disease management entities. At the end of the program, the team expects to have a detailed understanding of the needs of potential customers and who would be the most likely first customer segment. The team also expects to have a detailed description of how its minimum viable product should be designed to meet the needs of its customer. With this knowledge the team hopes to expedite the technical and analytical development that will go into an FDA ready device. Further this parallel path of customer development will provide clear evidence for investors to evaluate the addressable market and market size for the proposed product.