Artificial Intelligence award to transform lives of chronic disease patients

Researchers from the University of Southampton's IT Innovation Centre are driving the creation of an AI-enhanced digital health platform for personalised care of Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

A consortium led within Southampton's School of Electronics and Computer Science has won an Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Health and Care Award for the mySmartCOPD platform.

COPD is a common disease and is predicted to become the third leading cause of death by 2030. A key characteristic of COPD is acute worsening of symptoms called ?exacerbation events? which are detrimental to health and often lead to hospitalisation. Avoiding exacerbation events reduces lung function deterioration and increases quality of life.

mySmartCOPD will provide a new way of managing COPD by using computers to predict exacerbation events several days in advance.

Professor Michael Boniface, IT Innovation Centre director and mySmartCOPD project lead, says: "Our research has demonstrated that computers can learn when patients were likely to exacerbate from reported symptoms, lifestyle, and demographic data. By providing an early warning, people living with COPD have an opportunity to take action to prevent an exacerbation or lessen severity.

"Consequently, we expect that patients will have more control over their condition, medication will be used more appropriately, and NHS resources will be used more efficiently."

The IT Innovation Centre has partnered with my mhealth Ltd, the University of Bath and University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust on the project.

mySmartCOPD will enhance the existing myCOPD self-management application from my mhealth Ltd, which is currently used by many NHS providers and patients. Personalised alerts will be sent to patients and clinicians to work towards preventing an exacerbation.

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