ATMEN HEALTH We are listening!

Remote patient monitoring is moving beyond the concept of medical devices. Currently, there is an unsatisfied need to enable physicians to better monitor and care for patients suffering from respiratory diseases in real-time in a remote location.

For hospitalized patients with pulmonary conditions, the onset of respiratory decline can occur unnoticed, due to the absence of a way to continuously and noninvasively monitor lung condition. Auscultation is a standard tool for monitoring and assessing the pulmonary condition of patients. While it provides the experienced clinician with insights into respiratory mechanics, it is highly qualitative, dependent upon training and experience, and provides only discrete pictures of a patient’s lung health, such that changes may not be detected promptly. Unfortunately, most patients suffering from lung complications are not auscultated until they are in critical condition. According to Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos[1], timely support in the hospital or remote locations for patients suffering from COVID-19 is key to preventing permanent lung damage and improving their prognosis. Therefore, a tool capable of remotely assessing and monitoring lung conditions would make respiratory care more effective, accessible, and flexible worldwide.

Our proposed solution consists of three elements: A sensor (wearable to measure lung sounds and chest movements), a software application for assessing respiratory health, and a cloud/storage system. The software algorithm is based on a quantitative lung condition metric that we developed at MIT and that we are currently patenting. This metric is the equivalent to heart rate or blood oxygen saturation, which can be measured non-invasively, continuously, and remotely, to monitor trends in a patient’s pulmonary condition.

[1] COVID-19 Lung Damage. Johns Hopkings Medicine.