Spaced out with Asthma treatment
Two new concepts from European design and development company Cambridge Consultants (CCL) aim to improve childhood asthma management.
Many children up to the age of 15, but especially those under the age of 5, are unable to co-ordinate activating the inhaler and simultaneously breathing. Further, they often cannot manage to achieve the required minimum respiratory flow that allows the drug to be successfully delivered to the affected area of lung and bronchial tract.
Spacers, large balloon-like pieces of hollow transparent plastic, help children to get over both of these problems, although many find them cumbersome to carry around and they can worry small children when they first learn to use them. Engineers in CCL's drug delivery group turned to children's toys, the ancient art of origami, and a toddler's teaspoon to create a range of new concepts to make spacers appealing to children under the age of 15 while retaining device efficacy for successful treatment.
The result is a pocket-sized, low-cost, collapsible spacer that can be made from card or plastic and printed with images of the latest super-hero or pop star. Another idea was inspired by a 'Jack-in-the-box': a spring-loaded spacer that in its open state offers all the benefits of a standard spacer but can be compressed and carried in the patient's pocket.
Jon Tuckwell, who heads CCL's drug delivery group, commented: 'With as many as one in three children suffering with asthma, I'm amazed that little has been done to improve the problems associated with using a spacer. We know that certain devices, such as mobile phones, are seen as "cool" accessories. My aim in this development is to take the cool elements and apply them to this problem.'