Learn how we supported a research institute in deploying and evaluating their innovative asthma treatment program technologically, through the integration of the chosen FeNO device into the application.
Embarking on a mission to advance asthma treatment, a research institute developed new methodologies aimed at enhancing patient care. To validate these approaches in real-world settings, they initiated a study involving a group of asthma sufferers, intending to administer and evaluate a novel treatment cycle. Essential to their research was the accurate measurement of Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide (FeNO), a biomarker critical for objectively assessing the inflammation in patients’ airways and the effectiveness of the treatment.
The institute faced the challenge of not only collecting this data but also ensuring its accurate aggregation and insightful visualization. Our contribution began here, as we provided the technological means to integrate a specific model FeNO measurement device with a custom application, facilitating the institute’s ambitious project to improve asthma management. Stay with us to discover how our company helped technologically realize this medical research into a tangible reality.
Finding a Solution for Connected Device Integration
In their search for a technological solution to centrally collect data from numerous focus group participants using FeNO-measuring devices of a specific brand, the institute decided to collaborate with our customer, a leading pharmaceutical company. Our customer offers its partners more than just custom pharmaceutical production under their brands. In addition to medications, our customer can supply partners with smart devices that, when integrated with the containers or devices delivering these medications (like dispensers, inhalers, syringes), can register medication intake and automatically transmit this information via Bluetooth to a mobile app installed on the patients’ devices. This mobile app is created by our customer for each new partner using their low-code platform, which we developed for the rapid creation of customized medical applications. The core feature of this platform is its modular design, enabling the assembly of new applications using a variety of over 20 pre-developed functional modules. This process is streamlined through an intuitive and user-friendly admin panel, which allows for laying the foundation of the application’s functionality and significantly reducing the amount of code that developers will need to write. Administrators can effortlessly choose the appropriate modules to cater to each partner’s unique patient service scenario. Furthermore, within the same panel, they have the capability to tailor the application’s aesthetics, ensuring it resonates with the branding and stylistic preferences of the partner company.
Whenever a new partner of our customer required specialized functionality beyond what our existing modules could offer, they engaged our services to create a bespoke functional module. This custom-built module would not only cater to the unique requirements of the new partner but also become an integral part of our platform, enhancing its capacity for future applications. The functionality and flexibility of this low-code platform were ideally suited to the institute’s needs for technical support in their research endeavors. They encountered several specific scenarios that were not yet available on the platform at the time of their inquiry. Consequently, our customer reached out to us with a request to develop the missing functionalities to cater to their partner’s specific needs and, in doing so, to enhance the capabilities of the platform. In the next chapter, we will detail the application’s use-case scenario, which was implemented utilizing both the existing and newly developed functional modules.
Implementing FeNO Connected Device Integration
The fundamental architecture of the solution offered to partners by our customer consists of several key components:
Smart Device Integration: This involves a smart device that tracks medication intake, including the accuracy of dosage in certain instances.
Mobile Application: Patients use this app, downloaded on their smartphones, to sync with the medical device. The app not only records data about their medication intake but also sends this information to a server. From there, the data is channeled into a specialized web portal for medical staff.
Web Portal: The portal presents detailed insights into medication intake, including timing and accuracy, along with survey responses for symptom tracking. This comprehensive data aids medical staff in monitoring treatment efficacy and making necessary adjustments to patient care plans. The design of this web portal is meticulously crafted to cater to the specific needs of each partner company, ensuring that medical personnel have the precise tools and information required for optimal patient management. Learn more about how we built a multi-tenant, segregated backend infrastructure on AWS services to serve the numerous partners of our customer.
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In the institute’s case, they did not require any smart device from the range supported by our customer since the research team had already chosen a different device. Therefore, the first task our customer brought to us was to develop a functional module for the app that would connect a specific FeNO device model to the application. Our engineers meticulously studied the SDK of this device, identifying all the necessary interfaces for interaction. Based on this information, we developed a new functional module that implemented the pairing of our application with this device and the required operations for interacting with it. Thus, the application could send commands to the device via Bluetooth connection and read FeNO measurement data from its memory.
Customized Healthcare App for Medical Research
Let’s explore the key steps of the user flow in the application. After registration, the user pairs their FeNO device with the app. Next, the user sets a daily FeNO measurement schedule, according to which they will receive notifications reminding them to take a FeNO measurement.
Following this, they are guided through a tutorial on how to use the FeNO device, after which they are prompted to perform a FeNO measurement. This involves the patient blowing into the device. Once done, the device records the result, and the app immediately retrieves this data from the device. However, at the request of the research team, the app does not display the FeNO measurement result to the patient. This result, a number representing the amount of fractional exhaled nitric oxide detected in the exhaled air, is sent to the server and from there into the web portal. Here, all these FeNO data are visualized as required by the research team. The user only sees daily statistics in the app, indicating the number of FeNO measurements they have performed each day over the past week.
In addition to FeNO measurement data, the institute’s research group also wishes to receive a standardized questionnaire filled out periodically by each patient, known as the “Asthma Control Questionnaire – 5 (ACQ-5).” This questionnaire includes questions like “Was it harder for you to breathe last week after waking up?”. Therefore, functionality for filling out this questionnaire was implemented in the app. Technically, this was realized using an existing functional module in the platform designed for survey scenarios. It was configured and added to the app by an administrator in the admin panel. This is the advantage offered by our developed platform, enabling our customer to rapidly create customized applications to meet the requirements of their partners as part of their business model.
In conclusion, it’s important to highlight that the solution developed for this research can further be utilized by the institute for remote outpatient monitoring of patients undergoing treatment using their methodology. Moreover, the app can easily be enhanced with additional features, which can be added through the admin panel of the low-code platform used by our customer, where this app was initially created.
HIPAA Compliance Services & Consulting
An essential aspect of our work involved a mandatory component for releasing applications that handle patients’ personal protected health information. This task was the preparation of documentation affirming the application’s full compliance with the HIPAA standards. This documentation detailed the app’s functionalities and how these align with HIPAA regulations. It also described the technical measures implemented to ensure data security in accordance with HIPAA standards. We invite you to delve deeper into this topic and understand the approaches our team employs for preparing applications for HIPAA audit and how we can assist you in this process. Explore our strategies and expertise in preparing healthcare applications for HIPAA audits through our dedicated blog post. This resource provides an in-depth understanding of HIPAA compliance and showcases how our experience can assist in meeting these crucial standards.
Let’s partner up
We understand the importance of secure, compliant healthcare solutions. Our experience in developing applications that meet these requirements, including HIPAA compliance, is integral to our service offering on IoT integration and application development for healthcare.
Let’s discuss your project and see how we can assist you. Contact us today to schedule a consultation.
