Why Sparky? - the benefits
Asthma is the #1 chronic condition affecting children in the world. In the preschool age group, many children experience Asthma or other lung conditions for the first time. Sparky™ has been designed for Children 3-6 but can be used for children up to 12 years of age.
When your child suffers from a lung condition, the feelings of being unable to breathe are very unpleasant and may cause high anxiety levels
To diagnose Asthma and other lung conditions, healthcare providers use Spirometry and other tests, collectively referred to as Pulmonary Function Tests (PFTs), to understand how well the lungs are functioning. Complete PFTs are available in Pulmonary Function Labs, which are not easily accessible to over 95% of the population. For asthma diagnosis in community care, a combination of Spirometry and clinical assessment is the standard of care and is typically used.
At a young age, children are unable to understand certain concepts. For example, most children are only able to learn to read an analog clock at the age of 6. When a 3-year-old is told they will get a treat in 10 minutes, they understand “treat”, but not “10 min”. Similarly, young children do not understand concepts like “inhale deep” and “blow out forcefully”. Hence, a study has shown that only 54% of 4–5-year-olds were able to perform acceptable and repeatable spirometry according to American Thoracic Society guidelines, typically after substantive coaching with a healthcare professional.
To overcome this unability of young children to complete Spirometry, we have designed a
breathing-powered interactive game that makes use of the “intuitive abilities” of children to play games. As many parents will reconize, children love tablet games, and some start playing when they are quite young.
The game was designed by researchers and game designers with young children, considering their physical and brain development. It breaks down the breathing movements needed to do Spirometry so they easily learn without even knowing that they are learning or that their lung function is being measured. All based on the natural intuition of young children.
For parents, caregivers and clinicians, a dasboard allows you to view the measures, even if you’re not in the same location.
If your child has an Asthma Action Plan in place, their clinician will have given you instructions on what action to take if certain measures are reached or if you see specific symptoms. Your child’s spirometry results can be sent by PDF to their Clinician, or if they have a dashboard account, you can just send a link to share the dashboard with them, allowing easy collaboration to intervene when needed.
Key Benefits
Teach breathing techniques for spirometry through guided breathing activities
Engaging and fun to learn spirometry
Better Asthma Care using objective data to support your child’s Asthma Action Plan to better control breathing issues
Remote Monitoring to view progress on a secure dashboard anytime, anywhere
Easily Share results with child’s care team to keep everyone informed