INNOVATION
A former patient and nurse share their stories
Elaine MacHale is currently programme manager of a clinical trial of an innovative acoustic device fitted to inhalers of asthma patients that is being run at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland’s (RCSI) Clinical Research Centre at Beaumont Hospital.
Ireland has the fourth largest prevalence of asthma in the world (affecting 9.8% of the population); there are more than 5,000 asthma admissions to hospitals and 20,000 accident and emergency attendances a year, according to the Asthma Society of Ireland.
Elaine qualified as a children’s nurse in Temple Street Children’s University Hospital and as a general nurse in Jervis Street and Beaumont Hospitals. In addition, she has completed a BSc in Nurse Management followed by a postgraduate certificate in nursing (clinical research). In 2012 Elaine completed a master’s degree by research entitled ‘Promoting Compliance with Inhaler Use in Asthma Patients’.
Professor Richard Reilly of Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and Professor Richard Costello of RCSI developed the prototype of the device that is being tested in the trials managed by Elaine which is known as the INCA device (Inhaler Compliance Assessment).
The INCA device digitally records the sound of an inhaler being used by a patient. An algorithm developed by TCD engineers translates the sounds from the device into a visual graphical representation for Elaine to assess.
The technology has been exclusively licensed by Vitalograph and the hardware element has been further developed and miniaturised at its R&D centre in Ennis, Co Clare.
“The size of a €2 coin, the INCA device records how well and when a person takes their inhaler. It also measures how deep a breath the patient makes when inhaling their medication; this allows the research team to know if the drug has been deposited in the lungs,” Elaine explains.
The multi-site INCA study funded by the Health Research Board involves 220 patients being assessed over a three-month period, with Elaine and her team teaching patients to follow best practice when taking their inhalers.
“Each dot on the graph tells us what time the patient used their inhaler, whether they took it correctly or incorrectly and most importantly the type of error made. Most people make some errors. People can’t believe when they come to be assessed how personalised the results from INCA are and how it can improve their asthma control.”