A team of National Taiwan University (NTU) researchers has developed an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered system to predict whether people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) would suddenly experience a worsening of their symptoms within seven days.
COPD obstructs airflow from the lungs, leading to breathing difficulties, coughing and sputum production. There is no known cure and the condition worsens over time.
Although the symptoms are usually manageable, patients can experience a sudden worsening of their symptoms, known as an acute exacerbation, one to three times per year, which could lead to respiratory failure.
The disease is the third-biggest cause of death in the world and the seventh-biggest cause of death in Taiwan.
Prior to the team’s development of the AI system, there was no method to predict whether a COPD patient would have an acute exacerbation episode, team leader Lai Fei-pei (賴飛羆) said.
Doctors can evaluate a patient’s heart and lung functions through a six-minute walk test, but the test cannot predict the chances of experiencing an episode, Lai said.
People who want to use the AI system need to wear a smartwatch and have an air quality monitor in their homes for the system to collect the information it needs to make a prediction, Lai said.
These include the patient’s heart rate, sleep quality and how many steps they walk in a day, as well as the temperature, humidity and amount of fine particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers in their homes, he said.
The information is sent to the AI system, which calculates the likelihood of a patient experiencing an episode in the next seven days, he added.
If there is more than a 60 percent chance of an episode occurring, or if a patient’s heart rate averages more than 100 beats per minute, the system automatically alerts medical personnel and they contact the patient, Lai said.
The system has been used on 114 patients at NTU Hospital for one-and-a-half years, and has an accuracy rate of 92.5 percent, he said.
The team would continue to improve the system, as patients from other hospitals, such as Cardinal Tien Hospital in New Taipei City, use it, Lai said, adding that the researchers aim to bring the system to market.
The system is useful for patients and doctors, as it allows patients to monitor their situation without having to visit a hospital and it can help doctors warn patients before an episode occurs, he said.
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