Rather than partner with an existing sensor maker, AT&T has created its own device to measure pollutants that could set off asthma attacks and warn people with asthma that it may not be safe to spend a lot of time outside.
The telecommunications giant, through its AT&T ForHealth initiative, previewed the sensor, called Asthma Triggers, at last week’s mHealth Summit in National Harbor, Md. Asthma Triggers measures volatile organic compounds (VOCs)—a class of chemicals that asthmatics are particularly sensitive to—in the air.
The sensor connects via ZigBee to a smartphone, tablet or PC to send data to AT&T’s health information exchange platform, known as Healthcare Community Online, to measure the true risk for people in a given geographic area. AT&T says 27,000 adults miss work and 36,000 children miss school every day in the US due to asthma symptoms, citing data from the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.
Read more on MobiHealthNews.