A new Bluetooth inhaler is improving treatment and reducing asthma attacks for North Texas kids.
For 10-year-old Mercedes Jones, just a few minutes in the North Texas air could restrict her breathing. The changing weather can trigger a serious asthma attack.
“I use to have a lot of asthma attacks when I went outside,” said Jones.
But the attacks are now decreasing thanks to a new inhaler she started using a few months ago.
“She can now sleep at night,” said her guardian Cynthia Garcia. “She can go out and play when she didn’t use to because she had these attacks.”
The inhaler is called Propeller and right now is only offered in North Texas through Children’s Health. FDA-cleared, the inhaler works like a regular asthma inhaler except it has Bluetooth technology. Paired with a smartphone, every time the inhaler is used vital information is recorded, then sent to the doctor’s computer. Parents and kids can also access the information.
“[The sensor] records where they are, what time of day and it will also pick up what the pollen count was that day, if it was high,” said Pam Rogers, a respiratory therapist with Children’s Health.
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The program administrators call the new inhaler a game-changer.
“You’re able to get real time data as to where the child may be – whether it be at school, work, play, at home or at a birthday party,” Rogers said.
Respiratory teams can track that data, look for trends and triggers and alter medications based on a spike. Warning signs can be detected to prevent a serious attack.
“We can stop them before it gets too far,” said Rogers.
Program administrators have also noticed it’s making kids take a more active role in their health.
“Kids love technology,” said the program’s administrator, Julie Hall-Barrow. “Kids respond to texts. This application is able to text them reminders. It’s able to text them education.”
Right now the program is undergoing a test period, but Children’s Health hopes to expand the program to all its pediatric asthma patients.
For more information on how to get the Propeller inhaler and the asthma management program offered through Children’s Health, visit the asthma management program website or call 214-456-LUNG (5864).
