Supporting prolonged COPD monitoring using an application for mobile devices.

COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) is the most frequent form of chronic respiratory disease. During the progress of this disease, phases of aggravation of pulmonary function (exacerbations) can occur, which reduce the quality of life. Clinical experience shows that single investigations are insufficient. Therefore a prolonged monitoring is required to recognize an exacerbation early. This home monitoring will involve a quick respiratory test and a related application for Android, iOS and Windows phones. This rapid test transmits the relevant pulmonary parameters, converted in an Extensible Markup Language file to the smartphone. The application will analyze the incoming data to evaluate the current health status of the patient. Additionally the data will be transferred to the virtual control point (server) and stored in a database. If critical values are detected, the server will send a notification to prior defined relatives and doctors. A connection to a Hospital Information System will be possible through an included Health Level 7 interface. This offers an improved site-independent patient care. The project is planned to be in development until 2016.