Pnuemonics

Summary: Pneumonics is developing PneuMotion, a respiratory monitor for the detection of opioid induced ventilation impairment. PneuMotion is specifically designed to detect an airway obstruction, which is a critical sign of impending opioid overdose. The device facilitates the acquisition of data for two distinct physiological processes involved in respiration: breath sounds and diaphragm motion. Data from the sensors is processed within an algorithm developed by Pneumonics that detects the clinical signs of an airway obstruction. When critical parameters are met, an immediate alert is sent to a healthcare provider’s mobile device, facilitating early life saving intervention. The PneuMotion platform seamlessly merges with the hospital’s existing network infrastructure, allowing mobile alerts, EMR integration and opioid use data collection.

Need: More than half of the 36 million patients admitted to U.S. hospitals are routinely administered opioid painkillers, usually in high doses. Along with their pain-relieving effects, prescription opioids have the potential for serious and potentially lethal adverse side effects, most notably ventilation impairment. Inadequate or inappropriate respiratory monitoring is the leading cause of injury or death related to opioid use in hospitals.

Value: Opioid utilization in hospitals has risen dramatically over the last decade, largely attributed to regulatory mandates governing patient satisfaction. As a consequence, inpatient opioid overdose rates have doubled over the same time period, occurring at a rate of approximately 1:500 patients. Overdose events are not only devastating for patients and their families, they are also financially devastating for hospitals. Under new CMS rules, hospitals are rated on the frequency of respiratory events, including opioid overdose, and hospitals with below average ratings can incur significant reimbursement penalties. Additionally, malpractice settlements can reach into the millions. The widespread use of current respiratory monitors has been limited by alarm fatigue. Because of large variations in normal respiratory rates among individuals, most audible respiratory rate alarms require no clinical intervention and are therefore frequently ignored by clinical staff. PneuMotion solves this problem by using airway obstruction, rather than respiratory rate, as the critical overdose sign. Airway obstruction that occurs with opioid use can rapidly lead to hypoxia, brain injury or death. If a potential overdose is detected, an immediate alert is sent to a healthcare provider’s mobile device. By leveraging low-cost sensor technologies and Wi-Fi network integration, PneuMotion is a cost-effective and reliable solution for opioid safety in hospitals.