New tool should be used to measure asthma

Australian researchers are pushing for a more sophisticated tool to be used to help asthmatic children.

The Woolcock Institute of Medical Research tested an alternative, called the forced oscillation technique (FOT), on 22 asthmatic children aged eight to 12 over five days.

They found it to be more informative and easier to use than the peak flow test, which is a lung function monitoring tool that uses a plastic tube with a mouthpiece to measure how fast a person can breathe out.

The FOT tool, which uses sound waves to measure airway resistance, was invented in 1950.

However, it was not well used until technological advances allowed the device to be produced more economically, said Dr Paul Robinson, a paediatric respiratory physician at the Woolcock Institute.

Dr Robinson hopes the study's promising results will motivate a commercial manufacturer to create an FOT device that can be used at home.

"More work is needed to produce these devices so they're affordable, portable and appropriate for young patients to use by themselves at home," he said.

"But our findings are a proof of concept that this device can work better than the currently used tests."

Dr Robinson said the devices could be designed so they transmitted recorded information about a child's asthma from their home directly to their doctor.