Breathe easy: Beurer collaborates with the start-up LungPass

If you look at the top 4 most common causes of death, two are conditions attributable to the lungs: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and infections in the lower airways. They affect hundreds of millions of people across the globe, most notably children and elderly. Health and social outcomes could be significantly improved by changing status quo – delays in diagnosis leading to preventable hospitalizations. The start-up LungPass, headquartered across Minsk and Tallinn, has worked together with renowned pulmonologists to develop a digital stethoscope with an app. This innovation records, analyses and tracks lung sounds and respiratory symptoms over time, meaning it can flag up conditions at an early stage for most efficient intervention. As a healthcare specialist, Beurer is providing support as a cooperation partner and investor.

We breathe in around half a litre of air with every breath, with our lung function being a decisive factor for our physical capabilities. As respiratory diseases are so prevalent and burdensome, particularly in small children, LungPass is intended to resolve anxiety about how dangerous one's condition is and, if necessary, alert the user about early warning signs. See a GP only when it's needed – and never too late.

How does LungPass work?
A highly affordable wireless Bluetooth stethoscope lies at the heart of the innovation. It enables you to listen to your chest and evaluate the results using intelligent algorithms from the comfort of your own home. The matching LungPass app shows you how exactly to position the device. It also asks a host of questions about your symptoms. The lung sounds are recorded and transferred to the app. LungPass detects typical lung sound types and how they change, such as fine and coarse crackles, wheezing, rhonchi, normal breathing and artifacts. The system calls on a comprehensive database of lung sounds to analyze the results.

Users are provided with a detailed report on the meaning of registered sounds and symptoms allowing precise self-monitoring over the long term. They are also given recommendations on what action to take based on known patterns and anomalies.

Reliable measurement of lung sounds – at any time, from anywhere
With its computer-assisted analysis of sound phenomena in the lungs, LungPass offers an objective evaluation method and can help users in situations where early detection of changes in a respiratory condition is vital. The sensors in the electronic stethoscope are more sensitive than the human ear and can record lung sounds at a lower frequency. This feature really comes into its own for diseases such as pneumonia, where the sound can emerge prior to evident clinical picture, or for asthma and COPD, where it can be hard to distinguish between daily variations of symptoms and nascent severe decline. When compared against GPs, LungPass is by far more precise in classifying lung sounds. In an ongoing study its analysis consistently matched results from CT-scan, X-Ray and clinical diagnosis. With LungPass anyone can detect lung problems more accurately and at an earlier stage, monitor their development, and receive treatment faster and in a personalized manner.

LungPass and Beurer are expected to jointly launch the wireless Bluetooth stethoscope and app across Europe at the end of 2020. The app will be available free of charge for iOS and Android in English, German, Spanish, French, Italian and Russian.

More information about the start-up LungPass can be found at www.lungpass.com.