Madison, Wisconsin-based Propeller Health, which offers a digitally-guided respiratory therapy platform, has teamed up with Medical International Research (MIR) to offer several of the Italian health technology company’s mobile and clinical spirometers alongside the Propeller system.
The addition of sprirometers will give Propeller a more complete vision of the people using their platform, which works to improve management of respiratory conditions like asthma and COPD and also includes eight FDA-cleared sensors for connected inhalers. Healthcare organizations and pharmaceutical partners using Propeller can incorporate the MIR spirometers into their existing clinical programs, and data from the devices will automatically be routed to the Propeller platform where people and their doctors can assess their lung function and treatment status.
“We collect a lot of data, and we are always looking for new sources to bring in that will bring us a better picture of where these patients are in their treatment,” Propeller COO Chris Hogg told MobiHealthNews in an interview. “Spirometers are a high-value data stream we can easily incorporate into the platform.”
Spirometry is a tried and true measure of lung function, but their use outside of clinical settings is not particularly widespread. Other digital respiratory health companies like Sparo Labs and Cohero Health currently offer them with their platforms, and Hogg said Propeller had been looking at several different vendors for awhile before deciding on MIR’s devices.
“We’ve used them in the past for research programs, and we’ve been getting questions from commercial partners regularly asking if we would use them, and now is a good time with the market demand and the value they can offer doctors and their patients,” Hogg said.
The timing was also right, as MIR recently launched new spirometers that are geared towards consumers.
“I’m excited about this partnership with Propeller as it offers our customers a new option in the digital management of respiratory diseases by making available a comprehensive range of sensors,” John Cello, MIR’s manager of national sales and business development for the United States, said in a statement. “It happens at the right time now that MIR has launched a new generation of truly 'smart' spirometers, which provide the same accuracy of a clinical setting and connect wirelessly to the Propeller system.”
