Team S - Peak Flow Meter "Game"

Gagandip Singh <gagandip@buffalo.edu>
Jonathan J Pauley <jjpauley@buffalo.edu>
Jonathan T Tyler <jttyler@buffalo.edu>
Juhwan Song <jsong4@buffalo.edu>
Micheal Doohaluk <mmd29@buffalo.edu>
Julian Endaya <juliann@buffalo.edu>

Phase 1

There are many people in the world who suffer from asthma and asthma-related symptoms. As a result, many of those with asthma-like symptoms make use of peak flow meters and metered dose inhalers (MDI) to aid in controlling their symptoms. Unfortunately many people using asthma meters and inhalers don't utilize them properly to be fully accurate or effective. The solution we propose is to create an electronic game environment to demonstrate the proper use of a peak flow meter and inhaler, as well as to provide feedback to how well the user is making use of their meter/inhaler.

Our target users are teens with asthma. Introducing them to a fun, interactive way to monitor their health and properly self-administer medication will help to teach as well as entertain. Making a game out of the peak flow meter and MDI provides motivation and reward to an otherwise tedious process. The competitive nature of the game will help the users to develop their technique and give them something to look forward to on their next visit to the clinic.
One of the best ways to teach teens a concept or skill is to make the learning process as fun as possible, to make it so they think they are having fun instead of learning. This concept is evident in many programs that deal with teaching children and teens. This project teaches children the benefit of using correct technique when using their Metered Dose Inhalers (MDI's) by giving them direct feedback in form of a fun game. By instilling good, responsible, healthy habits early in life, their quality of life in the present and future will be improved, possibly deterring future complications or degradation of their condition.

The project will require some kind of system to host the program, track progress, award achievements, and hold the avatars. This would most likely be a console gaming system or a low-end computer. We would also need a digital peak flow meter and some way to hook it up to the system, probably through the USB connections that the console would have. The program itself should host the avatars, giving the user decent selection of shirts, hairstyles, etc., that we could add to at any time. The main interface should be something similar to the Xbox 360 dashboard, something that could display and animate the avatar and allow the user to check achievements. The program itself should have a variety of both competitive and non-competitive achievements, like granting someone bonus points for reaching their peak flow on five consecutive visits or for doing the best in the clinic over the course of a month or two.

The digital peak flow meters with USB hook ups are already available for about $70 or less, and the clinic could already have one. A console or PC gaming system would cost around $200 or so, but if the clinic bought used, this could be less.
In the future, the program could possibly be brought home to use on a system that the user may have at home through a disk or some kind of digital download. The program could then use the Internet capabilities of the system to track leaderboards, track progress and award achievements.

A major technical hurdle that our team might have to overcome is the compatibility of the device with the system or game console that will be used to record the patient's progress. The system may fail to properly configure the hardware through the USB connection. We will have to carefully develop a program that will be compatible across different platforms.