# Building a Digital Respiratory Disease Framework for COPD management in Central Appalachia

> **NIH NIH R43** · MEDENTUM INNOVATIONS INC. · 2022 · $259,453

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Compared to urban residents, rural communities have higher rates of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
(COPD) with worse disease control, resulting in higher rates of morbidity and mortality. In general, rural residents
suffer from higher poverty and uninsured rates, further compounded by geographic isolation and limited access
to quality healthcare. This and other social factors have resulted in higher incidence and worse outcomes of
nearly every chronic disease. Telehealth holds promise to address these challenges and expand access to
specialist care in these communities, but qualitative telehealth visits often lack necessary patient data for
physicians to make informed management decisions. Telemedicine is also often hindered by limited broadband
access in rural areas. Wearable technologies for remote monitoring suffer similar limitations, and, due to cost
and burdensome daily engagement requirements, lead to poor adherence rates in an older, sicker population.
To address these challenges, Medentum is developing an affordable and accessible, multi-functional, home-use
device featuring a camera, low-cost sensors (temperature, pulse oximeter) and a digital stethoscope. A
companion phone application allows the recording of demographics, sociocultural data, medical history, and
symptoms, and guides the patient to collect their biometric readings with the handheld device. Without the
necessity of broadband, the patient can transmit their information securely to a remote physician/chronic disease
specialist who can make a diagnosis and treatment plan. For this SBIR, Medentum will adapt its device and
software platform for respiratory disease, layering it with artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, to create a digital
respiratory disease framework (DRDF) that empowers self-management of COPD. The aims of this SBIR are to
1) study the usability and feasibility of this COPD respiratory framework in a rural Central Appalachian population
of 75 patients in Southwest Virginia and 2) build preliminary AI algorithms that autonomously predict COPD
exacerbation risk by analyzing low burden variables including risk factors (social, behavioral, environmental),
symptoms, COPD Assessment tests, and device biometrics (temperature, pulse, oxygen saturation, respiration
rate and breath sounds). In Phase II, the platform will incorporate smart triggers that will alert patients if certain
environmental risk factors are met, prompting them to engage with the platform. The smart algorithms will then
automatically predict their COPD exacerbation risk, ultimately triaging them to appropriate treatment. Predicting
and pre-empting disease exacerbation by facilitating early connections to medical providers for prompt and
effective treatment will have an enormous impact on health outcomes and treatment costs for rural COPD
patients. Ultimately, this platform will augment COPD self-management, promote preventive respiratory care,
and disseminate e...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10480681
- **Project number:** 1R43MD017545-01
- **Recipient organization:** MEDENTUM INNOVATIONS INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** STARLA KISER
- **Activity code:** R43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $259,453
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-26 → 2023-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10480681

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10480681, Building a Digital Respiratory Disease Framework for COPD management in Central Appalachia (1R43MD017545-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10480681. Licensed CC0.

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