The Current and Future Role of Technology in Respiratory Care.

Abstract

Over the past few decades, technology and improvements in artificial intelligence have dramatically changed major sectors of our day-to-day lives, including the field of healthcare. E-health includes a wide range of subdomains, such as wearables, smart-inhalers, portable electronic spirometers, digital stethoscopes, and clinical decision support systems. E-health has been consistently shown to enhance the quality of care, improve adherence to therapy, and allow early detection of worsening in chronic pulmonary diseases. The present review addresses the current and potential future role of major e-health tools and approaches in respiratory medicine, with the aim of providing readers with trustful and updated evidence to increase their awareness of the topic, and to allow them to optimally benefit from the latest innovation technology. Collected literature evidence shows that the potential of technology tools in respiratory medicine mainly relies on three fundamental interactions: between clinicians, between clinician and patient, and between patient and health technology. However, it would be desirable to establish widely agreed and adopted standards for conducting trials and reporting results in this area, as well as to take into proper consideration potentially relevant pitfalls related to privacy protection and compliance with regulatory procedures.