European consortium develops breakthrough device to prevent and reduce respiratory flare-ups

The research consortium ‘Blocking Respiratory Exacerbations: AI and data-driven Technology for Health Enhancement’ (BREATHE), which includes the University of Coimbra (UC), is developing an innovative device to predict and reduce respiratory flare-ups in patients with asthma and other chronic obstructive diseases. The researchers hope this new home-use tool will help patients and doctors anticipate and prevent respiratory crises, reduce hospital admissions, and improve quality of life.

The research team is testing a device to measure the exhaled nitric oxide fraction (FeNO) at home, a non-invasive method that can quickly assess lung inflammation. Currently, this monitoring is mainly carried out in a hospital or clinic environment using devices such as Evernoa, a system developed by one of the partners in the consortium, everSens, a company specialising in medical technology.

The mobile use of this new system, inspired by the Evernoa device, will allow "patients to easily monitor their FeNO levels at home, ensuring timely intervention and more effective disease management", the UC research team explains. The system works by "using the device for daily readings, following a simple and intuitive process," the researchers say. The measurements are then automatically recorded in the system's mobile app, which stores the data and allows patterns to be analysed over time. In the future, 'this data, combined with other clinical variables, could significantly contribute to the timely management and prevention of crises,' they add.

This mobile version of Evernoa, which will be available after clinical validation, is being developed using artificial intelligence. Predictive models are used to "analyse patterns of FeNO measurements and cross-reference with other clinical and environmental data".

"We believe that this home-use device could significantly improve the daily lives of people with asthma and other obstructive lung diseases, reducing exacerbations by up to 55 per cent, preventing more than 1.2 million hospital admissions per year in Europe, and saving around 8 million hospital days," the BREATHE project team stated. Chronic respiratory diseases "affect over 400 million people worldwide and are a leading cause of disability and death," they add.

The University of Coimbra and the Coimbra Local Health Unit (ULS Coimbra) are conducting a multi-centre clinical trial in Portugal and Spain (Hospital Clínic de Barcelona) to evaluate the performance of the home-use version of the Evernoa device in patients with severe asthma. The researchers will monitor participants for six months, collecting data on the use of the device and the progression of their clinical condition.

This will allow the team to "analyse patient compliance, assess the feasibility of regular use and understand how this innovative method can impact asthma management in real life", the Portuguese researchers explain.

In addition to UC, ULS Coimbra, everSens and Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, the research consortium includes AstraZeneca Spain, GENESIS Biomed - a consultancy specialising in biomedical innovation - and the Barcelona Clinical Research Foundation - August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute. The project is funded by the EIT Health Network with a budget of one million euros until 2026.

The University of Coimbra team is led by António Jorge Ferreira, professor at the Faculty of Medicine (FMUC) and researcher at the Coimbra Institute for Clinical and Biomedical Research (iCBR), and includes iCBR researcher Ricardo Leitão. The ULS Coimbra team includes clinicians Cláudia Loureiro and Diogo Canhoto, who are also lecturers and researchers at FMUC.