Smart Inhaler Healthcare App Development

Advanced healthcare technology in action: a physician navigating a patient management system on a tablet and a smart inhaler connected to a patient’s mobile app. Explore how a large network of private medical clinics, in collaboration with our customer, a pharmaceutical company, effectively implemented an application developed using a low-code platform crafted by our team. The essence of this platform is the creation of new applications from modular functional blocks already implemented within the system. When a partner of our customer needs functionality not currently available within these modules, our role as developers is to create and integrate the missing functional modules into the platform. This project exemplified such a scenario. The partner requested additional features to meet the specific needs of the clinic’s asthma treatment management and patient care protocols. Discover how we expanded and adapted the app’s capabilities to offer a more effective solution for patient care management.

Mobile App for Asthma Monitoring

The user’s experience with the app commences with an in-depth consultation with a healthcare professional. In this initial appointment, the doctor evaluates the patient’s unique health needs and decides which app features best support their care. Options might include modules for symptom tracking, medication monitoring, or other tailored functionalities. The healthcare provider customizes these options using their web-based interface, adapting the app to align with the patient’s specific treatment regimen. As the patient’s health needs change, the doctor can update the app’s features, adding or removing functions as required. Following registration, the patient enters the medical section of the app. Here, they connect their smart health devices to the app via Bluetooth. This could encompass a variety of devices, including daily and emergency inhalers, and spirometers used to measure lung capacity. Additionally, patients may have non-device-related prescriptions like pills or drops, which they choose upon their first login to the app. These medications are then manually logged by the patient each time they’re taken. And finally, a medication schedule is set up within the app to assist in managing their treatment. This marks the completion of the initial setup process.
Upon accessing the app’s main interface, the user is presented with the dashboard. This screen displays essential information such as medication usage statistics and symptom tracking, either on a weekly or monthly basis. Environmental factors relevant to asthma patients, like weather conditions and air quality, are also shown, with data such as atmospheric pressure and pollen levels sourced from AccuWeather via an API. On our dashboard, a simplified graph of spirometer diagnostic measurements is displayed. By clicking on this graph, users can access a more detailed version. This comprehensive graph reveals each measurement over time, along with its specific values.

The app issues push notifications reminding users to take their medications as per their set schedule. Medication usage through smart devices is automatically logged, while manual entries are also recorded, providing a comprehensive view of medication history. This information is categorized by the types of medication and devices and can be accessed by the user, their doctor, and caregiver, whose role will be elaborated upon in one of the upcoming chapters. The medication history can be viewed over custom time ranges, returning to the first logged entry.

In another section of the app, patients periodically fill out surveys to report on their condition and symptom severity. They can also note exposure to potential triggers like specific foods or environmental allergens. These inputs, combined with daily environmental data, create a timeline that correlates symptoms with external factors, aiding in the identification of unique health patterns. This information is accessible to the treating doctor and can be visually customized for ease of analysis.The app also includes educational content. Users can access articles about asthma and view related videos hosted on YouTube, all managed through an admin panel.

Additionally, our low-code platform made it easy to add Spanish to the app for the specific partner of our customer. We also used AWS services to build the server side. You can find more details about this in our blog post.

Smart Inhaler Solution Development

Our Smart Inhaler revolutionizes the traditional metered-dose inhaler (MDI) through advanced technology. This inhaler, equipped with an aerosol canister, consistently delivers precise medication doses. The calibrated pressure sensor in the inhaler acts as a trigger, activating only when sufficient force is applied to the canister’s valve, ensuring accurate dose release.

Additionally, the inhaler features an accelerometer and a differential air pressure sensor. These sensors enable it to gather comprehensive data about the user’s inhalation technique, assessing five critical criteria for effective medication intake. Let’s briefly understand what these criteria mean:

1. Bluetooth Synchronization: The inhaler syncs with an app, recording the timing of each dose. If not connected during intake, it stores the data for later transfer.
2. Medication State Monitoring: The canister must be shaken correctly, with the accelerometer tracking this action. This ensures the medication is ready for intake.
3. Inhaler Orientation: The angle at which the inhaler is held is crucial for optimal medication delivery. The inhaler’s accelerometer monitors this.
4. Inhalation Analysis: Using the air pressure sensor, the inhaler measures the strength and duration of inhalation, ensuring proper medication intake.
5. Timing of Medication Spray: The final criterion assesses the timing of medication release during inhalation, ensuring it occurs when the alveoli are open and airflow is optimal for uniform medication distribution.

For a deeper dive into how these criteria are technically assessed, check out this blog post.

This innovative inhaler is powered by custom firmware developed for the Nordic Semiconductor nRF52810 microcontroller. Our engineers crafted this firmware, focusing on seamless sensor integration and efficient data processing. Using Segger Embedded Studio for firmware development, our team ensures robust performance and reliable device operations. An essential aspect of our firmware development is the prioritization of energy-efficient firmware architecture. Dive deeper into this crucial topic by visiting our blog post titled “Low-Power Design Techniques and Methodologies.” Here, we examine the strategies and techniques employed to optimize power efficiency in our firmware designs.

Development of Application Features for Caregivers

Expanding upon the original functionality of our low-code platform, as announced earlier in this blog post, we have introduced for the partner network of clinics a new role in the system: the caregiver. This role is particularly in demand for scenarios such as a parent wishing to remotely monitor their child’s medication intake, or in cases where such oversight is beneficial for elderly patients.

User Roles and Registration Flexibility: Users can register as either a patient or a caregiver. Those opting for the caregiver role will see the application configured to display only caregiver-specific functionalities. After registration, caregivers are presented with the dashboard of the patient they are monitoring, set up through the medical staff application. The patient’s profile includes the caregiver’s email, which, upon registration, links them to their assigned patients. If a caregiver is responsible for multiple patients, they initially choose from a list of patients to view their profile. Caregivers can also be patients within the same app, easily switching between their patient profile and those they are monitoring.

App Interface and Functionality: Caregivers experience the app similarly to patients, with access to all the same tabs. However, their functionalities are adapted for monitoring purposes. For example, they cannot add new devices or manually log medication intake, but they can view all information about the medication intake history or the patient’s devices, including battery levels, connection status, last online time, and the number of puffs taken since the last medication canister replacement and the estimated remaining doses.

Customizable Notification System: A key feature for caregivers is the customizable notification system. Caregivers set preferences for push notifications for each patient, determining the level of detail for various events. For instance, by default, caregivers are notified when a patient has taken their medication, including the time of intake and a brief comment like “all good” if the patient adheres to the prescribed schedule and correctly uses the inhaler according to the five criteria. If the intake is not ideal, the notification includes a prompt such as “attention needed,” indicating that some aspect of the medication intake requires review. However, caregivers have the option to receive more detailed information in these notifications, and we’ll explain how to set this up.

Tapping on a notification takes the user to the app screen with detailed information about that particular medication intake, showing:

• The patient’s name
• The inhaler’s name
• The actual time of intake and how it aligns with the scheduled time
• The number of puffs taken versus the required number for the prescribed dose
• The accuracy of device usage for each puff based on the five criteria
• The remaining number of doses in the canister

If caregivers wish to receive any of these details in their push notifications, they can simply activate the notification settings mode on the same screen and select their preferences via checkboxes.

Another notification type informs caregivers if a patient has yet to take a scheduled dose. These alerts are automatically set to be sent 15 minutes after the missed dose’s scheduled time. However, caregivers can modify this timeframe according to their preferences. They can also opt to receive updates on the patient’s latest mobile phone battery level and the timestamp when this level was recorded.

Caregivers are also alerted when the patient’s mobile phone battery drops below a predetermined level, which is set at 10% by default. This battery level alert can similarly be configured for the smart inhaler device. Moreover, when the inhaler’s canister is down to the last 10 doses post-medication, the caregiver’s notification about the dose intake will additionally indicate the remaining dose count. Importantly, caregivers have the flexibility to change the settings to be notified about a different minimum number of remaining doses, with five being the lowest allowable limit for such alerts.

Moving Forward with Your Project

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