Respiratory Oxygen Adherence Monitor for COPD Patients

PROJECT SUMMARY ABSTRACT IntroductionThe Respiratory Oxygen Adherence MonitorROAMsystem will provide an effectivepracticaland affordable method to reliably assess long term oxygen therapyLTOTadherenceProblem to be AddressedChronic obstructive pulmonary diseaseCOPDafflicts overmillion people in the United States a n d is responsible for overhospitalizations and overdeaths annuallyLTOTwhich is generally administered to patients via a nasal cannula attached to an oxygen sourceis the only treatment that has been shown to improve survival in severe hypoxemia due to cardiopulmonary diseaseThe improvement in mortality is greatest when oxygen therapy is used at leasthours dayLTOT is also associated with significant reductions in hospitalizations and lengths of stayand improved quality of lifeDespite the benefits of LTOTadherence remains a challenge in the majority of patientsFurthermorethe ability to accurately assess rates of patient LTOT adherence is limited by current measuressuch as power on time of the concentratorwhich fail to discern whether the patient is actually wearing the nasal cannula and inhaling oxygenas opposed to merely having the oxygen source turned onPresent measures also fail to provide information regarding the pattern of oxygen use within eachhour intervalAn objective and accurate method for measuring patient adherence to LTOT is required to augment clinical effectivenessResearch HypothesesThe SBIR Phase I program will test the hypothesis that the ROAM system can accurately track adherent and non adherent patients during laboratory validation studiesPhase I SummaryIn the proposed research effortthe team will develop a commercial ready ROAM system using hardware components and the inclusion of a software interface that enables patients and authorized healthcare providers to access to patientsandaposadherence dataincluding pulse oximetry measuresThe system will provide patients with informationalattentionaland motivational feedback to encourage and improve adherenceUser design processes will be implemented for hardware and software development to ensure usability and motivational relevance with the target patient populationThe Phase II program will culminate in an extensive field trial involving COPD patients to demonstrate system efficacyPublic Health ImpactThe ROAM system will increase LTOT adherencelead to improved health outcomes for patients with cardiopulmonary diseaseand reduce the healthcare costs that are associated with expensive and preventable hospitalizations due to non adherence PROJECT NARRATIVE The proposed ROAM system objectively determines the duration and pattern of adherence to oxygen therapy on a minute by minute basis and provides feedback of usage metrics to patients and cliniciansThe proposed SBIR research addresses an important public health concern by providing accurate assessment of patient adherence to oxygen therapy and promoting adherence to a treatment that many patients neglectThe ultimate impact will be to improve health outcomes and reduce the costs associated with expensive and preventable hospitalizations due to non adherence