Asthma sufferers use a tool called a peak flow meter to see how much air is passing out of their lungs. It is useful to assess when flare-ups are happening and what outside allergens or problems might be causing a bronchial flare-up. Until recently, all that was available to take this measurement was a very basic mechanical device. My Spiroo aims to fix that with a connected, ultraportable peak flow meter that connects to your smartphone.
Created by Dr. Lukasz Koltowski and Peter Bajtala, the product is about as big as a traditional mechanical peak flow meter but has a headphone jack to connect to your phone.
“Spiroo is the answer to the problem of excessive time and repetition a traditional peak flow meter requires,” said Bajtala. “It makes it possible to save the results of the measurement on your phone and share them.” That way, rather than noting flow on a sheet of paper, you can record it on the fly, anywhere.
The founders will create a Pro version for doctors as well as a patient-only version with fewer data collection features. They are working with a Polish pharma company and some venture capitalists but the product has been bootstrapped since creation.
Because of the connected nature of the system, the team is planning to add geolocation and statistic information to the app as well as collect asthma data from users. This would allow them to release warnings to sufferers who may react to certain pollen or pollutant levels and help users manage their inhalers. “We catch all data from our device, anonymously, and visualize this data, helping make a world global asthmatic map,” said Bajtala.
Spiroo won second place in a Polish startup festival last week and looks to be on its way to production this year.