Take-A-Breath

Recent clinical studies have highlighted that approximately 334 million people worldwide have asthma and 210 million patients worldwide are suffering from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). These percentages are expected to increase by 24% by the year 2034, making COPD the third leading cause of death in the world, after heart disease and stroke. It is also worth noting that the majority of asthma deaths occur in people over the age of 45 (40% in people aged 75 years and over) and it is estimated that 180,000 people worldwide die each year from asthma.

The Take-A-Breath project aims to design, research and develop an innovative system of personalized monitoring and self-management of respiratory diseases (COPD, asthma) that takes into account cutting-edge clinical research and the emergence of new bio-indicators, with innovative Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). In particular, it aims to provide a user-friendly methodology for efficient self-management of respiratory diseases, to raise awareness to patients regarding the clinical implications of their status and to monitor their adherence to treatment and medication plan. Additionally, the project focuses on the clinical research of new biomarkers associated with respiratory diseases by examining a wide range of behavioral, environmental, and psychosocial parameters. Finally, the project adopts and develops an ambitious and innovative approach to monitoring the use of inhaled respiratory medicine, combined with training procedures, aiming on providing medical assistance and self-improvement. On this basis, a bio-network will be developed capable of adapting to any drug inhalation device and using as much as possible non-intrusive sensors. Moreover, an ICT system will be developed capable of:

• 1. collecting a wide range of respiratory data that are crucial for patients’ health evolution

• 2. training patients for the proper use of the inhaler devices, through innovative methods based on signal processing and computational vision, along with augmented reality techniques and gamification mechanisms, as well as through the integration of virtual characters and interactive narratives, and

• 3. providing guidelines and advice to the patient when required, by using a communication and decision-making support system through appropriate interventions, such as medical assistance from a doctor, self-management of exacerbations, etc.

Consortium

• CENTRE FOR RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY HELLAS – CERTH (Coordinator)

• University of Patras

• Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Medicine, Democritus University of Thrace

• ALLERTEC AE

• VIDAVO AE

• General Hospital of Ioannina “Hatzikosta”