Madison-based company to sell GPS asthma inhalers
MADISON - Every gadget seems to have a Global Positioning System (GPS) in it nowadays. Your phone, your car, your watch, even your asthma inhaler.
25 million people in the U.S. suffer from asthma. Most use inhalers to help control their conditions. Madison-based Asthmapolis has created an inhaler that would allow doctors and patients track their use.
"The best way to understand how people are managing their asthma is to record the time and place they're using their medications," Chief Technology Officer Greg Tracy told me. "Doctors can determine if patients have problems at night or during the day, at work or at home."
By spotting specific trends, doctors can alter medications and reduce visits to the emergency rooms.
The GPS data could also be used for research.
"If you aggregate all of the censor data, public health officials can get the 'lay of the land' for asthma in that community," Tracy explained.
The company hopes to start selling the device to health-care providers early next year.
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