Did you know that Cystic Fibrosis (CF) affects around 10,500 people in the UK and around 80,000 people across the globe? Having a debilitating impact on all areas of peoples’ lives, this condition can impact people of all pages.
With this in mind, we made it our business to strive to improve the quality of life and outcomes for people living with CF.
What is Project Breathe?
Project Breathe is a unique collaboration between Magic Bullet, The Cystic Fibrosis Trust, Royal Papworth Hospital, The University of Cambridge, Microsoft and Microsoft Research
In its early stages, the project seeks to empower people with CF to take control of their health via smart device self-monitoring, which has become increasingly popular as more people than ever before are having to self-monitor remotely due to Covid.
But at the same time, the project lends itself to supporting virtual clinics with multi-disciplinary healthcare teams who are looking to reduce the number of unnecessary routine hospital visits.
For people with CF, clinic visits can be time-consuming and expensive; however, it can be the only way for them and their clinical team to monitor their health. Research into health monitoring will help to establish the most effective ways of delivering remote monitoring, as well as use the data collected to improve future care.
Paving the way for the future of successful healthcare monitoring
Analysis of data from previous digital health study ‘SmartCareCF’ showed that it might be possible to predict when someone is likely to have a flare up of symptoms, or exacerbation, often days before they start to feel unwell.
Anonymised data from participants in the Project Breathe study will feed into this data analysis, to help test these predictions. If the predictions are accurate, then it may change the way lung exacerbations are managed in the future.
Regular data collection allows individuals with CF to track their own health, with many users stating that have found the whole experience of self-monitoring extremely empowering and that it has motivated them to stick to their treatments and exercise routine more rigorously.
There is still much research to be done however, The Project Breathe study continues to test the role of regular remote monitoring and explore how machine-learning predictions will impact the future of clinic-based care for people with cystic fibrosis.
If you require further information about Project Breathe, please do not hesitate to get in touch with a member of our team today! We are always on hand to help!
“The breadth of information recorded gives the ability to identify trends. Gives me more control over my health and decisions." Patient A
"Reduced stress not having to travel, reduced contact is safer. More aware of health and able to track trends over weeks and months using graphs etc."
“The home monitoring platform allows people that are well to avoid unnecessary trips to hospital. This is becoming even more important due to the greater stability in health seen following the introduction of CFTR modulators.” Dr Charles Haworth, Royal Papworth Hospital
“Good to see in real time if breathing performance has dropped, it allows early intervention”
“Maintaining a good healthy weight, increased motivation towards fitness and tracking results”
“I can track my own progress and take necessary actions as required. If I notice my weight declining I may add supplements into my routine. Or if my lung function declines, I may do extra physio”
“Reminds me to check in with myself and see how my body is doing”
“I don’t get pre-clinic nerves with virtual clinics. Less worry in general plus saves a lot of time”
“Not missing as much work on clinic days, less travel costs and time. The app gives me a good sense of where my health is on a day to day basis.”