Inhaler exhales asthma stats

By RICHARD WOOD

An Auckland asthmatic has developed an "intelligent inhaler" that records when dosages are taken and makes the data accessible in an internet browser.

Garth Sutherland is director of Nexus6, which was formed to develop and sell the device. The company is a client of the Icehouse business incubator in Parnell.

The slightly elongated inhaler enclosure contains a microprocessor chip and sufficient memory to hold a year's worth of date in non-volatile memory.

The information can be downloaded at any stage through a cradle and cable attached to a PC at home, at a doctor's office, or in a hospital.

Sutherland said there was a non-compliance problem with asthma drug use, as there was with many other lengthy self-medicated treatments.

"With asthma, people rely too much on the relief medication and do not take enough preventive medication," he said.

"Often when you measure a problem, it's part of the solution."

The inhaler system uses a hosted server to run analysis software and make it available back to a regular PC browser. Particular usage patterns can indicate or explain a problem.

Sutherland said private trials have started.

Nexus6 received part-funding from Technology New Zealand for research and development and an enterprise award from Industry New Zealand.

Sutherland said "hundreds of thousands" of dollars had been invested in the project which began three years ago.

The product would be available by the end of the year.

Pricing had not been established, but the aim was to make it available to all asthmatics.

Overseas companies were working along similar lines, but Nexus6 had the lead in internet capability, and there was plenty of scope for further development.