Compact Eucapnic Voluntary Hyperpnoea Apparatus for Exercise-Induced Respiratory Disease Detection

Area of Science:

• Pulmonary Medicine
• Sports Medicine
• Medical Device Development

Background:

• Eucapnic voluntary hyperpnoea (EVH) is an objective method for diagnosing exercise-induced asthma (EIA) or exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB).
• Current EVH systems can be cumbersome, limiting their widespread clinical and field use.
• Accurate EIB detection is crucial for athletes, particularly concerning the use of bronchodilators.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a compact, user-friendly apparatus for assessing EIB using the EVH challenge.
• To compare the efficacy of the novel compact EVH system against a conventional EVH apparatus.
• To evaluate the diagnostic performance of the new device in both asthmatic and healthy individuals.

Main Methods:

• Development of a novel, compact EVH breathing apparatus.
• Validation study involving 22 swimmers (11 with asthma, 11 healthy) in Auckland, New Zealand.
• Comparison of EIB detection rates between the compact EVH device and a conventional Phillips EVH system, measuring forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV₁).

Main Results:

• The compact EVH system detected EIB in 100% of subjects with diagnosed asthma, compared to 90.91% with the conventional system.
• In healthy subjects, the compact EVH system identified EIB in 4.55%, while the conventional system found none.
• A reduction in FEV₁ of ≥10% was used as the criterion for a positive EIB diagnosis.

Conclusions:

• The developed compact EVH apparatus is a viable and potentially more sensitive tool for detecting EIB.
• This portable device offers a practical alternative for EIB assessment in clinical and sports settings.
• Further validation may establish this compact system as a standard for EIB diagnosis.