SPIROSCOUT INHALER TRACKS ASTHMA ATTACKS

Spiroscout is a USB-powered inhaler that uses GPS as well as WiFI to track patients' inhaler use. David Van Sickle, the inventor from University of Wisconsin-Madison, says Spiroscout will yield a fuller, more accurate body of data than the self-recorded logs patients are often asked to keep.

The benefit is two-fold, Van Sickle says: physicians can use this data to adjust their patients' medication, if necessary, while epidemiologists might have more insight into population-level trends. As PhysOrgnotes, this isn't the first inhaler of its kind (that honor goes to SiliconSky GPS, though its product was also based on Van Sickle's first-iteration technology), but it may be the most practical one to date in that it doesn't come with a bulky box attached. Spiroscout isn't available just yet -- the company expects it to ship in the fall.