Digital health company ResApp Health (ASX:RAP) has announced the publication of acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease data from its Breathe Easy adult clinical study and a new commercial agreement with Australian-based telehealth company Doctors on Demand.
ResApp Health is developing smartphone applications for the diagnosis and management of respiratory disease. The data from its Breathe Easy adult clinical study has been published in the peer-reviewed Nature Partner Journal, npj Digital Medicine.
The company said the publication - 'Identification of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease using simple patient-reported symptoms and cough feature analysis' - builds on the preliminary top-line data from the study that was released in April 2019.
The study authors compared the accuracy of ResApp's cough-based algorithm to expert clinical assessment. In patients with known COPD, the algorithm correctly identified the presence of an acute exacerbation in 82.6 per cent of subjects. The absence of an exacerbation was correctly identified in 91 per cent of individuals. The authors noted that the high diagnostic agreement was also maintained in individuals with milder exacerbations, who typically comprise the cohort presenting to primary care and are 'hard to diagnose' cases.
COPD is the third leading cause of mortality worldwide, posing a huge global clinical burden. It typically results from high exposure to noxious gases (such as from smoking and air pollution), triggering airway or alveolar abnormalities.
ResApp Health CEO and managing director Tony Keating said, "We are pleased to see this research now published in a high impact, peer-reviewed journal. This data demonstrates that cough analysis provides a quick and simple acute exacerbation of COPD diagnostic test that has a high agreement with clinical diagnosis. These algorithms are incorporated into ResAppDx, our regulatory-approved, smartphonebased acute respiratory diagnostic tool giving telehealth clinicians an accurate way to assess their COPD patients remotely and improving patient outcomes."
The company also announced a commercial agreement with Australian-based telehealth company Doctors on Demand.
Doctors on Demand will launch ResApp's smartphone-based acute respiratory diagnostic test ResAppDx in their video telehealth services in the third quarter of this calendar year.
Doctors on Demand offers both direct-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) platforms for patients with a wide array of telehealth services including GP's, psychiatrists and dietitians along with direct connection to 3,623 pharmacies for prescription fulfilment.
Kirsty Garrett, CEO of Doctors on Demand, said, "Doctors on Demand has built its growth through innovation and delivering the highest standards of medical care for the benefit of our B2C and B2B customers. We believe ResApp Health is offering world leading diagnostic support for the telehealth industry, which enables more patients to be effectively managed through this important setting. We're very pleased to have reached this innovative agreement. Our team are very excited to implement this impressive technology to support the highest standards of care in clinical practice for our respiratory patients wherever they are in Australia, whether that's at a remote mine site in the Pilbara or student accommodation in Sydney. We believe our collaboration with ResAppDx will support both organisations to continue to innovate in the delivery of remote care."
