Smartphone Spirometers do exist

Hot on the heels of yesterdays blog about Smart Inhalers I’ve found this cool smartphone linked spirometer device named the NuvoAir.

This new version is Bluetooth LE compatible and can measure all the useful parameters inc PEFR, FEV1, FVC and ratio. While I get the general public market is huge and must look attractive to investors, it always puzzles me that they advertise these devices as home use using images of young and attractive people who frankly look like they should be climbing mountains not worrying about their health.

The pictures appear to show people tracking their breathing over a period of time again not sure the value of this if you don’t have a lung problem. It appears to have biometrics built in so it can record reading for several people which is perhaps more useful and I guess you could get one for the family for XMAS and pass it around the dinner table.

Don’t get me wrong its a cool piece of kit and I want one – feel free to send me a sample to review! In doctors bags, in GP consulting rooms, I can see practices buying them. The price point especially if we could do a bulk discount looks attractive.

I can see there is a case study of use in a hospital environment and really there is no reason we couldn’t be handing them out as hospital admission avoidance/ early intervention monitoring for patients. I’m not sure how good the software is at allowing say a community matron to remotely monitor daily a group of patients – needs to be a combination of remote monitoring, alerts when abnormal or not done and perhaps the ability to send reminders/messages but If anyone wants to work on this – happy to be involved.