Dr Paul Hernandez speaks
about the new forced oscillation spirometer (right)
in a Dalhousie U video
Photo credit: Dalhousie
University/videographer Findlay Muir |
A new device cobbled together out
of a stereo speaker, some transducers and a breathing
tube by scientists at Dalhousie University in Halifax
could revolutionize the way we diagnose asthma.
Called a forced oscillation spirometer,
the machine measures how resistant or "twitchy" an asthma
patient's airways are, explains Dr Paul Hernandez, a
Dalhousie respirologist involved in clinical trials
of the device, which was developed by Dalhousie biomedical
engineer Geoffrey Maksym, PhD. The team has just received
a $2 million grant from the Atlantic Innovation Fund
to commercialize the device.
"This tool offers new insight into
the pathophysiology of asthma and can increase our understanding
of asthmatic airways in real time and our detection
of asthma," says Dr Hernandez.
Last August the team published
a study in the European Respiratory Journal in
which they tested the oscillation spirometer on a group
of kids with well controlled disease attending an asthma
camp and compared the results to non-asthmatic children.
They found that the device was a more sensitive way
to diagnose who was asthmatic and who wasn't, because
the "twitchiness" was detected even though the kids'
asthma was well controlled with meds. Dr Hernandez is
currently conducting followup studies on the device
in adults.
HOW
IT WORKS
The patient breathes normally into a tube for about
30 seconds while small puffs of air are being pushed
into their lungs. Transducers measure how difficult
it is to get the air in and out of their lungs, and
from that the clinician knows how resistant or twitchy
the airway is. Detecting this twitchiness is hugely
important since regular spirometry tests measure only
how narrow a patient's airways are, and so might not
pick up iffier cases. The other major benefit of the
test is that because the patient doesn't have to forcefully
exhale, as they do with regular spirometry, it's much
easier on kids.
The researchers plan to use their
grant windfall to pretty the machine up a bit, make
it smaller and start selling it to hospitals and clinics.
Halifax's IWK Health Centre and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester,
MN are set to use it this year. The finished product
will be a two-in-one forced oscillation and standard
spirometer, says Dr Hernandez. "I don't think it will
be more expensive than the standard version," he says.
"The basic equipment isn't very fancy."
One thing Dr Hernandez isn't too
hopeful about is getting the machine into the hands
of family doctors. "We've had little success trying
to get family physicians to use spirometry," he admits.
"There are a lot of reasons for it — they don't
feel comfortable doing and interpreting the test, there's
a small capital cost to getting the machine and most
provinces don't reimburse them for doing it."
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