Breathing is the most basic funtion of life. Which is why RespirON could be every asthmatics essential support system. After a friend suffering from asthma nearly died because she couldn’t reach his inhaler in time, this bunch created a combination app and hardware, which can help manage asthma efficiently. “One of our friends, who stays in the hostel, suffered an asthma attack and had forgotten her inhaler in the hostel mess. She was choking but could not call on anybody for help. However, the warden came to her rescue. When she narrated the whole incident to us, it struck us a great idea. With the help of our mentor Manasvi Sihag we decided to come up with an application to help asthma patients effectively manage their lifestyle,” says Ajay Kumar Saini, RespirON’s developer.
Highlighting the importance and use of this project, Roshit Gopinath, the application developer adds, “It is but human nature to forget to carry things, which might be dangerous if you have asthma. So, we have provided an out of range alarm which gives an alert message on the smartphone application in case the user moves too far away from the device.” The prototype, which was self-funded has won them the first prize at Innovation Jockey and now the team from Technoplanet Labs (Manav Rachna College of Engineering) is in talks with various investors who have shown interest.
It wasn’t easy though. The real challenge was to make this device pocket-able and power-efficient, he reveals Shanu, Embedded Programmer. “One of the problems we faced while developing the project was in making the outer casing of the device. Our criteria was that the casing should be presentable and elegant, however, we could not afford a 3d printer. So, we chanced upon the idea of using the tubelight holder cover which is found at the sides of any regular tubelight and surprisingly it did fit perfectly.” The functions of the app are multi-dimensional. As soon as the app is started, it connects to the device. The home screen of the device displays the number of puffs remaining. It can also mail the e-report to the doctor.
The team of five, which developed the prototype on the Windows platform has ventured into the Ios and Android platforms. “We have gone through various asthma applications, which are available in the market while developing RespirON, but none of them have succeeded in providing the complete solution.,” says Shubham Goel, Graphic Designer. Going forward, the team plans to opt for crowd funding and co-branding with pharmaceutical companies.
