With more than 5.2 million people affected by asthma in the UK alone, and 9 million U.S. children diagnosed with the chronic disease on average, the Georgia Tech Research Institute researchers have come with relief for the sufferers – a sensor system that can monitors the air around persons prone to asthma attacks continuously.
If an asthma patient wears the new battery-powered sensor that easily fits in the pockets of a vest, it could help understand the causes of asthma attacks as well — thus avoid them. This is a welcome development, especially when it is not possible to fully understand why certain people get asthma. It is only that, once a person has it, their lungs can overreact to environmental stimuli, leading to chest tightness or breathlessness or asthma attack.
The new sensor system can eventually measure a patient’s airborne exposure to formaldehyde, carbon dioxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, temperature, relative humidity and total volatile organic compounds. A special mesh filter collects the airborne particles, which can be measured later. The new system would surely bring in preventive relief to the chronic asthma patients, if not curative initially.
Via: theengineer
