New Uscom Euro Grant for Pulmonary Research

Incentive based smart spacer to promote pulmonary recovery training & drug uptake

Uscom has announced the award of a second European scientific research grant to Uscom Europe based in Budapest. Uscom was a member of a consortium awarded 1,317,502 Euro (≈AU$1.86) over 2 years to develop a new smart spacer and software to promote pulmonary recovery training and drug uptake under the Eurostars programme. The total value of the project is 1,317,502 Euro (AU$1.86) and Uscom will receive 349,480k Euro (≈AU$492k) over the next 2 years ($246k AUD pa).

Key Points

  • Chronic respiratory diseases are common and increasing worldwide
  • Appropriate choice and delivery of medication can significantly improve outcomes
  • “spacers” improve efficiency and delivery of inhaled medication
  • Uscom SpiroSonic devices deliver research quality pulmonary assessment to the clinic and home care and are world leaders in pulmonary monitoring and therapeutic guidance technologies
  • Uscom Europe was awarded a Eurostar grant of AU$492k over 2 years to research and develop (R&D) new devices to promote improved patient treatment, compliance and improved drug delivery
  • Eurostars is a joint programme between EUREKA and the European Commission, co-funded from the national budgets of 36 Participating States and Partner Countries and by the European Union. In the 2014-2020 period it has a total public budget of €1.14 billion
  • Eurostars supports the development of rapidly marketable innovative products, processes and services that help improve the daily lives of people around the world

The project is titled “Incentive based smart spacer to promote pulmonary recovery training & drug uptake” (NEMZ_16-1-2017-0001) and focuses on the development of a new medical device that increases the efficiency of drug delivery from inhalation dispensers, supported by software to re-inforce the appropriate on going use of medication. Uscom’s advanced digital multi-path ultrasonic technology is already being adopted among cloud based telemetric pulmonary monitoring companies in the USA, while the sophisticated SpiroReporter archiving and analysis software which can be installed on smart phones, tablets, computers or the cloud provides opportunities to combine complex pulmonary function measurements with a remote digital monitoring platform.

While many new companies are marketing simple inhaler trackers connected to an app or software, the SpiroSonic tSpiro solution provides comprehensive pulmonary function monitoring of patients in their own home, with full cloud based telemetric analysis, diagnosis and management which generates “big data” for population disease profiling. Uscom’s contribution to this project is derived from experience in researching, developing and manufacturing world leading digital ultrasonic spirometers and digital respiratory monitoring technologies.

Executive Chairman of Uscom, Associate Professor Rob Phillips said, “Hundreds of millions of people around the world suffer from preventable chronic respiratory diseases, and this research funding focuses on solving a clinical problem that results in hundreds of thousands of deaths per year. This grant is recognition that Uscom has a global reputation for R&D and manufacturing of innovative cardiovascular and pulmonary monitoring devices, and the development of clinical solutions to drive improved global pulmonary care.”

Background

COPD – Effects more than 210m people (4-20% in over 40s) and increasing
In the US a patient dies from COPD every four minutes. It’s the fourth leading cause of death, with 24 million people estimated to have the disease and 12 million of those undiagnosed
Asthma – Effects 250-350million people worldwide, with prevalence varying from 1-18% (Aus 15%), with approximately 250,000 to 345,000 attributable deaths per year
Sleep apnea (a chronic respiratory disease) – Occurs in 10-24% of all adults with 2-4% being symptomatic, and is associated with a 4 times increased rate of mortality, and a 10 fold increased risk of motor vehicle and occupational accidents
The Eurostars programme is a joint programme by Eureka and the European Commission which is co-funded from the national budgets or 36 participating states and countries. The Hungarian National Research, Development and Innovation Office as part of the European Research Organisation administers the grant.

The entire grant project is a collaboration of Uscom Europe with a group of Dutch pulmonary specialists at Stichting Gelre Ziekenhuizen and SilverFit B.V. (The Dutch Foundation for the Elderly), and is planned to produce Uscom owned IP and products. This grant is in addition to the prior Hungarian grant of $427K AUD announced – Nov 28th 2016.

Uscom manufactures and markets the USCOM 1A, the Uscom BP+, and the Uscom SpiroSonic digital ultrasonic spirometry technologies. These premium digital devices are changing the way we diagnose and treat cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases, including hypertension, heart failure, asthma, COPD and sleep disorders. The devices and technologies are integral for optimising management of sepsis and guidance of fluid, inotropes and vasoactive therapies in critical care monitoring, and in clinical and home care delivered asthma and COPD diagnosis and medication monitoring.

References:

https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/regional-innovation-monitor/organisation/national-research-development-and-innovation-office
https://www.eurostars-eureka.eu/about-eurostars
https://www.gelreziekenhuizen.nl/Gelreziekenhuizen
http://silverfit.com/en/
http://www.who.int/respiratory/copd/en/

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