Vena-enabled asthma inhaler adds IR and Bluetooth connectivity, won't sync with your headset

Putting a new twist on inhalers, Cambridge Consultants this week announced a new Vena platform for medical apparatuses. It's comprised of two wireless standards, Bluetooth Health Device Profile (HDP) and the IR-based IEEE11073, for exchanging data with between devices. The Vena respirator marks the first demo unit and will connect via smartphone or computer to help keep track of when it's being used and can provide reminders for patients who need to scheduled doses. The information can also be sent to relevant doctors and anonymously to health care specialists who like to mine these numbers and find trends. If you're looking to see it for yourself and maybe try to smooze your way into a lungs-on, it'll be at the Respiratory Drug Delivery Europe 2009 conference in Lisbon, Germany later this month.

[Via CNET]

[Darthweder @ May 7th 2009 1:37AM]

Did you layoff your grammar police?

[Steve @ May 7th 2009 2:16AM]

I'm not 110% sure, but i think that they did, in fact, lay off the grammar police...

[nDy @ May 7th 2009 3:13AM]

The battery in the police's inhaler is dead
so he could not open the shell before his last breath.

[Maverickfiveo @ May 7th 2009 4:31PM]

They couldn't have laid off their grammar police, you're all right here.

[Bobbo @ May 7th 2009 1:39AM]

I think you mean schmooze?

[ChaosEntity17 @ May 7th 2009 1:49AM]

So shiny...

[Razloga @ May 7th 2009 2:32AM]

Yup, finally a reason to get asthma...

[darkmax @ May 7th 2009 1:53AM]

great now they have a new way to track their patients....

[Maverickfiveo @ May 7th 2009 4:35PM]

As an asthmatic, I would love to have researchers and my doctor track my usage and give me suggestions on how to improve my respiratory health.

[nintendo fanboy hater @ May 7th 2009 1:54AM]

need to schedule doses need to scheduled doses

[bjam @ May 7th 2009 1:56AM]

I'ed wear that thing around my neck like an asthmatic flava-flave

[CleverEndeavor @ May 7th 2009 2:02AM]

Yo! (coughs) hows u like my asthma thingy ive got here? (coughs) shit is so cash! (coughs) (hacks)

[Dexter @ May 7th 2009 2:02AM]

Suddenly, having asthma is cool again. Can't wait to show this off to the ladies.

[Aarun @ May 7th 2009 2:23AM]

OMG, Ross I am sorry, but the grammar in that article was just atrocious!

[Lando Calrissian @ May 7th 2009 2:28AM]

It's 1:30AM in his time zone, give him a break. I'd be writing jibberish too if I was up at that hour.

[Bergolas @ May 7th 2009 2:25AM]

Well guys the Europe I live in Lisbon i.e. Lisboa is in Portugal...

[CaptSaltyJack @ May 7th 2009 2:37AM]

Looks like an Xbox 360 accessory.

[Paul @ May 7th 2009 3:14AM]

Looks aside, that thing is rather bulky. Carrying a standard device is inconvenient at times. That is at last twice the size.

Why start with this when Insulin dispensers would logicically be a more important device to monitor?

[Ian @ May 7th 2009 3:42AM]

i think that asthma is something that should be monitored, as long as no personal information is gathered and only where they are and what time. thats so doctors can track where more asthma cases are taking place and be able to better pin point the problems. but hey thats just me

[Rhian Last @ May 7th 2009 4:26AM]

This is interesting, but use of inhaler alone does not constitute compliance. Is the person using their inhaler correctly? What is the frequency of their symptoms? What is their personal management plan?
Check this site out: http://www.activemedicine.co.uk
Maybe these guys should get together?

[dajimmers @ May 7th 2009 6:52AM]

True, but this is a great step. Often patients don't pay attention to how often they're using the things (same as "how many beers do you drink a week?"), and we're lucky if we can pin them down to how long each cartridge lasts. And since asthma treatment is linked directly to how often and when someone is having symptoms, this is a good (but not perfect) measure of that.

Insulin makes sense too, but maybe not as much. We already have objective measures of how compliant someone's been (A1c, etc.), and we can track their blood sugar readings from their monitors and even more from people with insulin pumps.

[Alexis Brion @ May 7th 2009 5:13AM]

Dear Ross,

Here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe you can find a list of the European countries and their capitals, e.g. Lisbon is the capital of Portugal and Berlin the one of Germany.

Alex

[Sam Hutchings @ May 8th 2009 6:22AM]

I think i have to agree with my fellow europeans when trying to explain that Lisbon is the Capital of Portugal, and that there is no Lisbon in Germany.

Does this perhaps back the European idea that americans have little concept of geography outside of the states?

[Allen @ May 8th 2009 9:20AM]

Well, not all of us Americans lack the concept of geography outside of the states, but apparently Ross isn't interested in making the correction to help me out with that notion.

Ross, is this conference really in Lisbon or is it in some other town in Germany? Help us out!!!

[Eric @ May 7th 2009 10:59AM]

Actually, you better hope it syncs with your head.