130 (one hundred and thirty) staff, patients and visitors took advantage of the breathing test centre at the World COPD Day display at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital organised by the Thoracic Medicine Department on 14 November.

Individuals were tested with the EasyOne® Spirometer and given an A4 copy of their spirometry report.

Those with abnormal results who had been unaware of a decline in their lung function were advised to see their GP for further assessment.

Individuals were counselled on smoking cessation as appropriate and tested with a CO Meter.

The key message communicated to those who patronised the World COPD Day Display at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital is that 3 out of 4 people with COPD are unaware of their diagnosis and that early detection and treatment can return the rate of decline of lung function to that of the normal ageing process.

Pictured: Michael Brown, Senior Scientist in Thoracic Medicine at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital coaches Craig Abud of Niche Medical in a spirometry demonstration.

Introducing the Aeroneb Go® - a silent, portable, vibrating mesh nebuliser manufactured by Aerogen utilising a horizontal mesh containing 1,000 holes obtained by electrolysis which vibrates at 100 kHz.

The Aeroneb Go is a single patient use device for patients to use at home, at work and when travelling.

The Aeroneb Go is designed for the efficient delivery of commonly inhaled medications including Bronchodilators, Inhaled Antibiotics(1) and Pulmozyme®*(2) (rhDNase), particularly in the treatment of Cystic Fibrosis and Bronchiectasis.

Aerogen’s OnQ® Aerosol Generator is a wafer-thin electronic micro-pump which uses no compressed air, generates negligible heat and efficiently nebulises solutions, suspensions, proteins and peptides.

The mesh and the other alloy components in the Aeroneb Go are coated with “Nickel Palladium” which is completely resistant to corrosion; therefore the Aeroneb Go is suitable for use with Hypertonic Saline.

In an independent validation study(2), the Aeroneb Go delivered 2.5ml of Pulmozyme* (rhDNase) with an inhaled mass of 798 micro grams at a particle size (MMAD) of 4.5 microns within 4.4 minutes.

The Aeroneb Go consists of a hand-held nebuliser and a separate battery pack and an AC power adapter. Unlike conventional nebulisers, the Aeroneb Go runs completely silently allowing for discreet operation.

*Pulmozyme is a registered trademark of Roche Products Pty Ltd

1.Efficiency of Pulmonary Administration of Tobramycin Solution for Inhalation in Cystic Fibrosis Using an Improved Drug Delivery System. CHEST 2003; 123:28 - 36.

2.Evaluation of the Aeroneb Go Nebuliser Performance with Pulmozyme (2.5mg/2.5ml) STUDY REPORT, INSERM U-618, Aerosol Team, Faculty of Medicine, 37032 Tours, France. August 2006.

Introducing the Suchatzki® range of Ultrasonic Nebulisers which are manufactured in Germany and includes Table-Top Units for use in Laboratories and Mobile Units for use on Hospital Wards.

The Suchatzki range of Ultrasonic Nebulisers are designed for the delivery of inhaled medications, commonly for the delivery of Hypertonic Saline for Induced Sputums and in Bronchial Provocation Testing.

The product features are as follows:

• Ease of Use and Application
• Reliability
• Output is adjustable from 0.5ml / min to 3.5ml / min
• Electronic Interrupters Prevent Operation at Dryness
• Compatible with Bacterial Filters
• Continuous and Self-Regulating Feeding System
• Availability of 2 Litre Stock Bottles
• Quiet Operation
• Choice of Continuous Operation or a 15 minute Timer
• All parts are suitable for sterilisation

As a result of customer feedback we are pleased to announce the release of new EasyWare® PC software version 2.92 with the following new features:

• Operator Selection of Best Trial and Trial Ranking
• Trending of Patient Results
• Report Review and Comments

Those customers who already own a copy of the EasyWare PC software can contact our office on 1300 136 855 and quote their software registration number to obtain a complimentary upgrade to EasyWare version 2.92.

For those using the EasyOne Spirometer stand-alone (without the EasyWare Software) it should be noted that the trials are ranked according to the highest sum of FEV1 + FVC following the recommendation of the American Thoracic Society and the European Respiratory Society.

Additionally, the acceptability of a trial is also taken into account. An acceptable trial is always ranked ahead of an unacceptable trial. This principle is also used for the best value calculation. Therefore it may occur that higher values are not presented in the best value column.

However, for the experts who would like to control the selection of trials when using the EasyOne Spirometer stand-alone we suggest the following:

In the main menu of the EasyOne Spirometer go into CONFIGURATION and then choose TEST SETTINGS and use the ENTER key to scroll down to AUTOMATED QC and turn this function OFF.

You should ensure that the EasyOne Spirometer is configured to store 3 Curves which again you can set under CONFIGURATION and then choose TEST SETTINGS where you should use the ENTER key to scroll down to Storage and choose 3 BEST.

Once these options have been set you will see that when you perform spirometry tests in the EasyOne Spirometer you will be given the option of keeping or rejecting trials. i.e. KEEP or REJECT.

In REJECTING trials you will ensure that they are not ranked as the best trial and when you perform more than 3 Trials the rejected trial/s will be deleted.

Please contact our office on 1300 136 855 for further information.

STUDY ABSTRACT

STUDY: "The Long-Term Stability of Portable Spirometers Used in a Multinational Study of the Prevalence of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease".

PUBLICATION: "Respiratory Care Journal 2006;51 (10):1167– 1171".

AUTHORS: "Rogelio Perez-Padilla MD, Juan Carlos Vazquez-Garcia MD, Maria Nelly Marquez MD, Jose Roberto B Jardim MD, Julio Pertuze MD, Carmen Lisboa MD, Adriana Muino MD, Maria Victorina Lopez MD, Carlos Talamo MD, Maria Montes de Oca MD, Gonzalo Valdivia MD, Ana Maria B Menezes MD, and the Latin American COPD Prevalence Study (PLATINO) Team".

BACKGROUND: "We report the performance of an ultrasound-based portable spirometer (EasyOne) used in a population-based survey of the prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, conducted in 5 Latin American cities: Sao Paulo, Brazil; Mexico City, Mexico; Montevideo, Uruguay; Santiago, Chile; and Caracas, Venezuela (the Latin American COPD Prevalence Study [PLATINO])".

METHODS: "During the survey period (which ranged from 3 months to 6 months in the various locations) we collected daily calibration data from the 70 EasyOne spirometers used in the 5 survey cities. The calibrations were conducted with a 3-L syringe, and the calibration data were stored in the spirometer’s database".

RESULTS: "Ninety-seven percent of the calibration volumes were within +- 64mL (2.1%) of the 3-L calibration signal. Excluding data from the first city studied (Sao Paulo), where one calibration syringe had to be replaced, 98% of the calibration checks were within +- 50 mL (1.7%). The measured volume was affected only minimally by the syringe’s peak flow or emptying time".

CONCLUSION: "In these 70 EasyOne spirometers neither calibration nor linearity changed during the study. Such calibration stability is a valuable feature in spirometry surveys and in the clinical setting".

Niche News Editor's Note: A very interesting aspect to this study was that the investigators detected a leak in the connection of one of their Calibration Syringes being utilised in one city (Sao Paulo) as their calibration checks with this syringe showed that the EasyOne spirometers were out of calibration. This situation was resolved and the EasyOne Spirometers were found to be within calibration upon replacement of the leaky Calibration Syringe.

In light of this occurrence, it is worth contemplating that had the investigators chosen a spirometer in which the calibration could be changed; they would have changed the calibration of the spirometers according to the leak in the syringe which would have produced erroneous data and potentially had disastrous consequences for their study.

email: craig@nichemedical.com.au

phone: 1300 136 855

web: http://www.nichemedical.com.au