Public Funding for Exhalation Technology Ltd

We propose to develop a small, fully automatic, user-friendly device to detect lung inflammation to be used at home by COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) patients themselves. The device will use exhaled breath with H2O2 as the marker. It will allow COPD patients to share the results with healthcare staff remotely and make it easier for people from COPD risk groups to be screened. Current diagnosis and monitoring of COPD are typically based on clinical examination, spirometery, forced expiratory volumes and lung capacity measurements. A few commercial devices for detection of NO (Nitric Oxide) in exhaled breath exist, but NO detection generally requires a controlled exhalation, making it unsuitable for most COPD patients and for selfmonitoring. In the UK, there are estimated to be 6 million COPD sufferers, but the European COPD Coalition states that only an estimated 900,000 (1.5% of the population of the UK) are correctly diagnosed.The cost to the NHS of COPD prescriptions and hospital admissions in 2010 was £578 million (NICE Costing Report 2011). We estimate that cost savings of 10% of this would be achievable after 18 months if our device was adopted. As exhaled H2O2 does not require a controlled exhalation, H202 is an ideal marker for home monitoring of COPD. We have successfully demonstrated real-time assessment of lung inflammation using exhaled H202 in clinical settings in a pilot study at the UEA Medical School. The study demonstrated that exhaled breath H202 measurement can be applied to provide exact real-time analysis, and confirmed that exacerbating COPD patients display significantly higher H2O2 values.Patients found H202 sampling easy and preferable to alternative solutions, especially during exacerbations, where breathlessness made spirometry and NO measurements difficult.By developing the concept into an "all in one" fully automatic smaller device we will enable patients and physicians to detect lung inflammation far earlier.

Market study of the scope for detection and monitoring of chemicals in waste water using a handheld portable device which can detect a chemical from a very small sample.

We have developed a hand-held portable lung inflammation detection device for veterinary use. This technology is equally applicable for human use where there is an established need for more effective and cheaper treatment of lung inflammation problems.The outcome of the project will be a completed prototype for human use, validated in pre-marketing trials at a Medical School, ready for CE marking, with confirmation from a leading independent opinionformer of the effectiveness and potential of the device. The device will provide realtime detection of the degree of lung inflammation,thus enabling physicians to improve medication and avoid unnecessary hospital admissions and visits to clinics. Incidences of asthma and COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) are increasing.In the UK alone, 5.4 million patients are asthma sufferers and there are nearly the same number of COPD sufferers. The NHS spends £1 billion on treatment and needs to reduce this. Exhaled hydrogen peroxide in breath condensate is a well researched and published marker for oxidative stress and lung inflammation as in exacerbating asthma and COPD. This marker does not require a controlled exhalation. Normal breathing into a mask is all that is required, and it is therefore more suitable for all patient groups, including the 30% of the market not served by other devices. So far there is no commercial implementation of this “Condensate” technology for routine clinical use, and the Exhalation Technology device will provide this.