A summary of research presented at the ERS Congress, which highlights how digital health could be used to improve the treatment of people living with lung conditions in the future.
‘Digital health indicates the use of electronic tools to address health needs’ – Guiliana Ferrante, ERS Congress 2024
Digital transformation affects all areas of society, including healthcare. Digital devices and apps offer new opportunities that can help us move towards a more patient-centred approach to healthcare. For this to be effective, it is important to improve accessibility and access to information about lung conditions for people living with lung-related diseases and increase their confidence when participating in shared decision-making.
This year’s European Respiratory Society’s International Congress put a spotlight on digital health. Here we summarise some of the key studies that were shared in scientific sessions.
Mobile apps and devices can be used to manage lung conditions.
For example, for people with asthma, an app can be connected to a digital spirometer. The device alerts the patient of any changes to their peak flow, that they can discuss with a healthcare professional. The app can help a person understand their symptoms and enable healthcare professionals to provide a personalised care plan based on data collected.
Further advantages of mobile apps and devices that were discussed include:
Technologies can help discussion between healthcare professionals and patients as they become more blended between remote and in-person care. For example, if a person’s medication is changed, the effectiveness of new medications can be checked remotely. This can help people to demonstrate how their symptoms are and allow them to show their healthcare professionals any change using the data collected on an app or device.
By collecting data and helping track symptoms, people can have more confidence in their decision-making. With a better understanding of their own symptoms, medication and condition, people are better informed about when they need to seek help or make changes at home, such as increasing inhaler use.
Features of apps can include push notifications for appointments and medication use. These features can help people keep on track with appointments and take medication as prescribed by doctors, which often leads to better treatment outcomes. A recent study saw that 1 in 2 people (53%) with asthma showed improved health outcomes due to use of digital health interventions which helped people stick to treatment schedules. For example, an app used in people with asthma can provide feedback on inhaler use to make sure the device is used correctly and allow for successful treatment.
Artificial intelligence refers to using technology to mimic intelligent behaviour. Artificial intelligence (AI) has begun to influence several areas of healthcare.
AI can:
Interaction between AI and healthcare professionals is crucial for the technology to make a valuable contribution to patient care.
A social robot is an independent, or semi-independent robot designed to interact with humans and meet their needs. Social robots can be used in healthcare in a variety of roles, including providing support to people living with lung conditions or as tools to monitor their health. Social robots can adapt to the needs of the person using the robot.
Talks at the Congress included the use of social robots for children with asthma. Robots have been trialled to describe medical processes to children with asthma. For example, the correct way to use an inhaler. As well as provide demonstrations of different breathing exercises that can be used.
During the congress there was also an opportunity to ask questions of AMECA, one of the most advanced humanoid robots in the world. The technology now developed is thought to have a level of intelligence similar to a third-year medical student (in the USA). In this way, the robot can ‘speak’ with humans as if they were an actual human.
There are benefits and risks when using this kind of technology. Some of the benefits include enabling faster diagnoses and helping to prevent worsening of lung conditions by offering timely advice. However, some risks include data privacy leaks and increasing lung health inequality for those with limited access to social robots.
The questions also asked to AMECA had to be easy to understand. The more complex the questions asked, the more difficult AMECA found it to answer.
Telerehabilitation or home-based rehabilitation is where rehabilitation programmes areis provided remotely rather than in-person. Rehabilitation can also be hybrid – where part of the treatment is provided in-person and part remotely.
Implementation of new telerehabilitation strategies can be difficult and if not done at a national level can mean some areas of a country have access whereas others do not.
Implementation of new initiatives in healthcare depends on:
The purpose of telerehabilitation is to increase the access that patients have to lung rehabilitation. For example, where healthcare professionals time is limited, or patients are not able to attend in-person appointments.
