Interactive Digital Inhaler Guides Pulmonary Care

The fusion of digital technology and a traditional metered dose inhaler (MDI) provides users with interactive cues that optimize respiratory therapy.

The Cognita Labs (Santa Ana, CA, USA) CapMedic device is a wireless AI-powered sensor cap that can be attached to any MDI, in order to provide precisely timed, step-by-step interactive cues that break down complex inhalation steps. Examples of such audiovisual cues include the correct coordination of deep inhalation, and even easy-to-forget preliminary steps such as shaking the MDI before use and maintaining it in an upright position. Indications for use include asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and other pulmonary conditions.

CapMedic is also a dual-purpose device, thanks to an in-built spirometer that empowers users to track the progression of their lung health by measuring lung parameters such as forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and peak expiratory flow (PEF). Medication and lung function data can be transferred to the CapMedic smartphone app, empowering patients to actively engage in managing their condition and enabling remote patient monitoring (RPM) for providers.

“Decades of studies have shown that almost 90% of patients are unable to use MDIs correctly, a result of their complex, multi-step usage requirements. The Cognita team has conducted drug deposition studies showing a tenfold improvement in the delivery of medication,” said Rajoshi Biswas, PhD, chief scientific officer and co-founder of Cognita Labs. “Our goal with CapMedic is to make inhalers fun and easy to use, while allowing patients to build good inhaler use habits and better manage their respiratory conditions. An effective daily dose means patients are more likely to avoid costly, life-threatening hospitalizations.”

“We've never really known if our patients are getting the medication they need at home because many of them struggle to use inhalers correctly. CapMedic brings us the data we didn't have before,” said pediatric pulmonologist Chris Landon, MD, of the Pediatric Diagnostic Center (Ventura, CA, USA). “We have seen our little patients, and our big ones, loving the sounds and lights of CapMedic while improving their technique. Parents synchronize lung function and medication data with their smartphone app, which gives us a snapshot of their compliance remotely.”

Spirometry is the most common pulmonary function test that measures lung function, specifically the volume and/or flow of air that can be inhaled and exhaled.

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