An NC State research center has created a new health innovation that can predict and prevent asthma attacks. It’s known as the Health and Environmental Tracker (HET), and it consists of a wristband and chest patch.

Veena Misra, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, assisted in making the invention in hopes that it would help people nationally who study and research asthma. Misra is part of the leadership team of the Advanced Self-Powered Systems of Integrated Sensors and Technologies (ASSIST) at NC State, the center responsible for the new technology.

“It is in prototype stage, but we are talking to several people on trying to take this to the next level, where it can be used in clinical studies,” Misra said. “There is a lot of interest right now from all over the country in trying to use this device for their existing health studies in asthma.”

The HET consists of sensors that are placed on the user’s wrist and chest and track their environment and physical attributes. The system then uses the data to help detect bad environmental conditions or risky health conditions to alert the user if an area isn’t safe, which is done through a smartphone app that will be created when testing for HET is finished.

“It consists of sensors on the wristband and sensors on the chest patch, and together these sensors are able to monitor your exposures to things like ozone, and at the same time the sensors are able to monitor your body, for example your respiration,” Misra said.

The data collected will be stored into a computer database. Software will eventually be created that will read through the data and use the information to find when a patient may be in danger.

The chest patch deals more with sensing the user’s physical attributes while the wristband helps to detect environmental conditions. The sensors are then able to communicate the information back to a database and evaluates it to tell the user when to anticipate an asthma attack.

The HET also consists of one non-wearable piece known as a spirometer, which patients breathe into in order to measure lung function. 

The data collected from the spirometer will be used to inform the patient of the dosage amount required by their prescription drugs that are found in their inhaler.  The spirometer works separately from the other devices, but the data from all the devices is required to anticipate asthma attacks.

The researchers at ASSIST are also planning on allowing the user to see the data being tracked on their smartphone once the original product is finished. 

Dr. Carolyn Garrett-Piggott is currently the medical consultant for the occupational medicine and health surveillance team on campus, and she said she has seen many students with asthma-related issues.

“A lot of time when students come in they’re going to be complaining of either shortness of breath or wheezing,” Garret-Piggott said. “If they’ve had asthma before and they may have had to use a steroid, then we notice their asthma may sometimes be poorly controlled then we have a bigger markup, such as exacerbation.”

 One of the biggest issues in treating asthma is that it is difficult to detect. 

Asthma is only noticeable when the symptoms begin to occur, according to Garret-Piggott. It’s hard to see the effects of asthma in real-time, but the HET is able to do this.

“It has been known for a long time that the environment impacts our health, but the direct correlation is not there in real time,” Misra said.  “This kind of technology allows us to monitor the impact of environmental toxins in real time and at the same time as they impact our health.”

One of the major accomplishments of this new device is its low power consumption levels.  

These devices have consumption levels below the sub-milliwatt levels compared to some existing devices that have consumption levels above hundreds of milliwatts.

Milliwatts measure energy conversion over time; a simple lightbulb can take up to 60 watts, or 60,000 milliwatts, to power for a day.

The new system, though a major achievement, is still in its prototype phase and hasn’t been completed yet. During the rest of the summer, more tests will be done in the HET on larger groups of patients suffering from asthma.

Once researchers ensure the HET is working and accurately receiving and transmitting information, they will begin the development of the software that will alert the user if any known asthma-related threat is to occur based on their environment.

The HET is continually going through experimentation during the summer and is still being tested on control groups to see if data can be effectively transmitted.