Asthma in children is unpredictable. One moment, a child is running carefree across the football field, the next moment, they are too short of breath to participate. What if a smart AI model could predict when things will go wrong? At Medisch Spectrum Twente (MST), researchers are working on PREVENT: a dashboard that helps parents and doctors stay ahead of asthma attacks.
About 7% of Dutch children have asthma, and in some of them the disease remains unstable despite medication. When does it change? What factors play a role? "That is sometimes difficult for us as doctors to fathom," says Dr Mattiènne van der Kamp, technical physician at MST, Reggeborgh Research Fellow and principal investigator of the PREVENT project.
PREVENT is a collaboration between MST, Ziekenhuisgroep Twente, Deventer Hospital, the University of Twente (TechMed Centre) and the company Evidencio. The Pioneers in Health Care voucher made it possible to start the project and develop the AI techniques.
asuring and adjusting
"Current asthma care does not always match the erratic nature of the disease," explains Van der Kamp. "Children visit the clinic a few times a year, where we mainly look back: how have things been over the past few months? But asthma comes in waves, and anything can happen between two visits." In addition, many children have difficulty recognising shortness of breath, which means that a deterioration is sometimes noticed too late. By then, lung function may have declined to such an extent that hospitalisation is necessary.
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