Kolkata: In a major breakthrough, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur has developed an affordable diagnostic device named as ‘SenFlex.T’ for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
The device synced with an android monitoring App through Bluetooth can continuously monitor breathing patterns, heart rate, and Oxygen saturation level for patients with the chronic illness.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, when patients with chronic illness are advised to remain at home, the device can help patients monitor their health indicators without going to the hospital. “The App is connected to a cloud computing server, where Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been implemented to predict the severity of COPD through Machine Learning. The ‘SenFlex.T’ can be used at home by patients without having to visit diagnostic centres,” says Dipak Kumar Goswami who teaches at Department of Physics at the institute.
“SenFlex.T will address the critical issue of addressing COPD at an early stage and by means of advanced healthcare technology, which is a boon for both patients and the overall healthcare system,” Goswami adds. The concept behind the device is based on the internet-of-things medical devices (IoT-MD) integrated with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The researchers have filed a patent for the innovation and are looking forward to its commercialization, which is estimated at a cost of Rs 2,500.
According to the researchers, SenFlex.T’s smart mask contains a highly sensitive, flexible temperature sensor along with a Bluetooth based measuring electronics. The sensor system can continuously monitor the temperature changes of inhaled and exhaled air during breathing and record the breathing pattern. A commercially available pulse Oximeter has been integrated with its sensor system to monitor the Oxygen saturation level during breathing.
“The patient data is uploaded automatically to the cloud server through the mobile app (SenFlex), where it is processed by means of Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning (AIML), and reports made available to the app and for doctors’ consultation,” Goswami said.
According to a recent study- severity and mortality rates among COPD patients affected by the Covid-19 virus are over 63 percent. Moreover, the patients affected by Covid-19 virus, which is over 4 million cases in India are more susceptible to build up various lung related diseases like COPD, Asthma etc.
“It was crucial for health-tech researchers to innovate in the diagnosis of COPD. Spirometry, the gold standard test to diagnose obstructive airway diseases like asthma and COPD, is often avoided due to the unavailability of the equipment and high costs. This motivated us to develop an AI-based system, that can be accessible to doctors and patients as well,” Goswami adds.
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