Adoption of airway clearance devices to treat cystic fibrosis, neuromuscular, bronchiectasis is expected to drive the growth of the market. These devices help with the expansion of the lung and clear the accumulation of excess mucus thereby allowing the patient to breathe properly. The use of various forms of airway clearance devices is expected to see a rise with the widespread high prevalence of cystic fibrosis.
Improvement in healthcare policies in different countries has increased the affordability for various medical and treatment facilities, which in effect has improved people's life expectancy. The burgeoning aging population would boost the number of people diagnosed with asthma and COPD. The overall treatment of asthma and COPD after age 65 is highly crucial and troublesome. People over 65 who have been diagnosed with asthma and COPD cannot take liquid medication.
What are airway clearance systems?
Airway clearance systems are physical or mechanical methods to simplify the elimination of tracheobronchial phlegm by external or internal airflow control and phlegm removal through coughing. These products release the thick, sticky mucus of the lung so that coughing can clear it. Clearing the mucus from the airways helps to reduce diseases in the lungs and improve lung function. These airway clearance systems are used to treat various conditions such as emphysema, cystic fibrosis, neuromuscular, bronchiectasis, and others.
Types of airway clearance systems:
Positive Expiratory Pressure (PEP)
PEP therapy is intended to help open narrowed airways with air pressure. PEP therapy requires a mouthpiece or mask attached to a regulator, where the patient is advised to breathe naturally, but to remove the air more vigorously than they would usually do, helping to bring the mucus out. Adjunctive treatment using a supportive expiratory pressure (PEP) system increases the duration of hospital stays in patients using acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD).
Intrapulmonary Percussive Ventilators
Airway clearing methods are frequently suggested as part of the management of chronic obstructive airway diseases. Intrapulmonary percussive ventilation (IPV) is used as an airway clearing procedure in patients affected by unnecessary lung secretions.
Intrapulmonary percussive ventilation (IPV) is the product of high-frequency percussive ventilation, which was originally used to treat respiratory distress following smoke inhalation or burns. It is a pressure-limited, time-cycled, high-frequency ventilation mode that delivers sub physiological tidal volumes. After its conception, IPV has been increasingly used in patients affected by prolonged respiratory secretions or for the treatment of atelectasis.
High-Frequency Chest Wall Oscillation (HFCWO)
The HFCWO technology is used to produce a fast-repeating air pulse, alternately gripping and relaxing the upper body. Each squeeze simulates a "mini cough," which helps to remove the mucus from the walls of the airways and then move it to the wider airways where it can be coughed out. The device is designed to optimize convenience and ensure ease of use.
Like any treatment, the aim is to ensure the quality of life and so we have uniquely built a single hose system that lets us handle a smoother start and an accurate inflate and deflate. This technology increases the patient's comfort. The soft-start allows patients to properly acclimate to therapy so that they are not given a quick hard 'hug' and the aggressive inflate and deflate acclimates the patient to therapy by allowing the clothing to contour the chest cavity.
Airway clearance systems applications:
Airway clearance systems for emphysema
Emphysem is a lung disease that causes shortness of breath. Airbags in the lungs (alveoli) are impaired in people with emphysema. Over time, the inner walls of the airbags are cracking and breaking — creating wider air gaps instead of much smaller ones.
A portable system facilitates flexibility for patients who are more mobile and who want to maintain mobility. Patients will wear the device when cooking, going to the garage, gardening, and planning for the day. The benefit of a mobile product is that it lets the user perform therapy when doing everyday life activities. The program helps patients achieve a higher quality of life when dealing with chronic conditions such as COPD.
Airway clearance systems for bronchiectasis
Bronchiectasis is an incurable respiratory disease characterized by excessive swelling and enlargement of the bronchi and bronchioles, the larger airways of the lungs. Effective treatment of this disorder may increase the quality of life of a patient and the related symptoms, and respiratory therapists (RTs) may play an important role in the care of patients with bronchiectasis.
Airway clearance systems can have positive effects on patients with bronchiectasis. Airway clearance treatment is a vital aspect of the routine control of bronchiectasis, improving the opportunity to clean up secretions and reduce respiratory problems during the day. Both results help reduce the risk of contracting a person's chest infection and increase the likelihood of sustaining a successful workout and activity regimen that encourages a healthy respiratory reserve.
Airway clearance systems for neuromuscular applications
Respiratory dysfunction is the leading cause of morbidity and death in patients with neuromuscular and neurological disorders and elderly patients with decreased lung capacity due to the weakening of the respiratory system along with natural aging. Although the normally stable elderly patient is typically asymptomatic, their pulmonary capacity is often weakened in difficult conditions such as chemotherapy, infection, or exacerbation of a comorbid condition.
The failure to remove effectively stored secretions and to resist aspiration leads to this compromise. While no secretion-management treatment has been established as having particular relevance to the elderly, physicians must be vigilant to consider the needs of the elderly to avoid the creation of respiratory compromises. Patients with the neuromuscular disorder are often unable to generate effective cough to stimulate and evacuate secretions.
Airway clearance systems technology advancements and industry trends
Increasing prevalence of Lung diseases such as COPD
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic life-threatening lung disorder that causes breathlessness (beginning with exertion) and predisposes to aggravation and severe disease. In 2016, the Global Burden of Disease Study revealed a prevalence of 251 million COPD cases worldwide. Globally, it is estimated that the disease caused 3.17 million deaths in 2015 (that is, 5 percent of all deaths worldwide in that year). In low-and middle-income countries, more than 90% of COPD deaths have been recorded. Exposure to cigarette smoke is the leading cause of COPD. Many risk factors include exposure to air pollution indoors and outdoors, and occupational dust and fumes.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare to improve cystic fibrosis treatment
About 100,000 individuals worldwide have cystic fibrosis (CF). People born with a disease have an estimated life expectancy of just 40 years. CF is a genetic disease that affects the body's various organ systems. Nonetheless, it's generally a lung condition that shortens life expectancy. Mucus covers the airways in the lungs, providing a perfect condition for infection and inflammation. Such processes of infection and inflammation eventually destroy the lungs to such an extent that transplantation is the only treatment alternative.
Optimal clinical treatment of inherited genetic disorders, such as cystic fibrosis (CF), involves a complex solution such as artificial intelligence. Technology updates treatments to meet the changing nature of the disease and to customize medications and dosages for specific patients. The chronic progressive nature of CF and variability among patients have contributed to difficulties in designing optimal regimens. Adaptive individualized treatment offers a method as a way of meeting these goals.
Airway clearance systems demand during the coronavirus pandemic
A coronavirus strain that has just been detected is called SARS-CoV-2. The disease it causes is called Coronavirus Disease 2019; or COVID-19. Although the virus was first detected in China, it can, like other viruses, be transmitted to and from anyone. Common colds are caused by coronaviruses, as is the case for many respiratory disorders that have been seen in the past, including SARS and MERS. The virus is thought to spread through contact between those in close contact with each other, or respiratory droplets while a person is coughing.
Transmitting the virus from a contaminated surface might be possible, although this is not thought to be the primary way the virus spreads. The number of confirmed COVID 19 cases has been increasing over the last few days and there is no doubt it will continue. As someone with such a chronic lung disease and a weakened immune system, considering the introduction of airway clearance systems has become important for humans. With the spread of such a virus and many other forms of flu, a regular airway clearance becomes necessary.
Free Valuable Insights: Global Airway Clearance System Market to reach a market size of USD 774.7 million by 2025
The bottom line
In most chronic lung disease cases, their health relies on the continuous removal of airway secretions. As such, emerging technical advances in this field are important for healthcare practitioners to optimize patient satisfaction and outcomes, improve respiratory safety, and reduce costs. Recent developments, such as moving towards home healthcare, have shaped these new technologies and will continue to impact the industry in the future.
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