There are 25 million people in the U.S. that have asthma and 6.3 million of these people are under the age of 18. Asthma is a chronic disease that is caused by inflammation of the airways in the lungs. This can lead to coughing, wheezing, tightness in the chest, or shortness of breath. On average 10 people die from asthma every day. These deaths can be avoided through the use of inhalers, however a lot of people(especially children) forget their inhalers when they go places. A solution to this would be to have a smaller and more compact inhaler that can be put on the back of a phone case. This would reduce the risk of forgetting inhalers because people are constantly on their phones and would never have to worry about not having them with them.
Works Cited:
Pulmonary Associates, PA, South Office (602) 258-4951
Tanmay Panchabhai, MD, St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center (602) 406-4000
Rajeev Saggar, MD, Banner-University Medical Center Phoenix (602) 839-2000
Miquel Gomez II, MD, Banner Estrella Medical Center (623) 327-4000 and Banner Thunderbird Medical Center (602) 588-5555
Rupali Drewek, MD, Phoenix Children’s Medical Group-Pulmonology (602) 933-0985
Dr. Lilia Parra-Roide, MD, St Joseph's Pediatrics (602) 635-6551
Dr. Dawn Schwartz, DO, St Joseph's Pediatrics (602) 635-6551
Dr. Brian Millhollon, AZ Allergy and Asthma Specialists (480) 705-8844
Stephen R. Anthony, MD, Pulmonary Associates (602) 997-7263
Dr. Cameron Dick, MD, Banner University Medical Center Phoenix (602) 264-5685
David Drachler, MD, HonorHealth Medical Group Physician (602) 997-7331
Gerald Schwartzberg, MD, HonorHealth Medical Group Physician (602) 997-7331
Michael Lepire, MD, Phoenix Medical Group (623) 815-7800
Mohammad H. Madantschi, MD, Phoenix Medical Group (623) 815-7800
Mahmoud Mahafzah, MD, Phoenix Medical Group (623) 815-7800
Walter Migotto, MD, Phoenix Medical Group (623) 815-7800
Ali Mojaverian, MD, Phoenix Medical Group (623) 815-7800
Robert R. Orr, DO, Phoenix Medical Group (623) 815-7800
Competitors
Funhaler Child Incentive Spacer
Advantages - Provides comfort knowing proper dose is inhaled, Ensures effective medication delivery, Promotes deep breathing by rewarding children with fun incentives, Reassures you that your child’s breathing technique will allow effective medication, Suitable for children 18 months and over, Latex free
Disadvantages - Is only targeted toward children, Is not as compact as a phone case would be, Not convenient to carry around
Aer, Airgora
Advantages - Promotes proper use of medication, Reduces asthma-related costs
Disadvantages - Is not mobile, Must be plugged in, Seems complicated to use
Works Cited:
When looking for patents against our design we couldn’t find anything that reflected how we wanted to create our device. Instead we found a broad patent that described a medical device case that had a variety of different functions, none of which seemed feasible or realistic(WO 2016022760 A1). If we were to patent our design it would be very easy to get past this because there really isn’t anything like our design on the market right now. In our research we came across an interesting design for a slimmed down inhaler that uses natural salt crystals instead of compressed air as a medium for the medicine. When designing our device we may try and develop an inhaler design similar to this or just integrating the pre-existing compressed air design of inhaler into our case.
Works Cited:
BME 100 Fall 2017
