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By Greg Bartlett

The medical community is always doing research to discover why things happen and what can be done to treat the problem. Now they are even using GPS technology. The University of Wisconsin-Madison is trying to find out what causes asthma attacks. GPS tracking systems are being put in inhalers to track when asthma attacks occur through a program started by epidemiologist David Van Sickle. They have already run a preliminary test with 4 university students who had asthma. The students were given inhalers equipped with GPS tracking systems that would send a signal when the student used the inhaler.

GPS technology has advanced enough in the last few years to allow this kind of experiment to take place easily. Trackers are now small enough to be carried around without too much trouble. They are also getting stronger in signal strength. This experiment will be more accurate than it would have been in the past, because the GPS tracking systems have strong enough signals to send location data inside buildings.

The experiment has already shown some individuals where their problem lies. One individual only had asthma attacks at work, but he had not realized that his office was the triggering location before his inhaler was tracked with the GPS. The University of Wisconsin-Madison was very pleased with the results from the preliminary test and they are currently preparing for a more thorough study which will track about 50 volunteers.

By compiling information about when and where asthma attacks occur, Van Sickle hopes to be able to find time and place symptoms for a particular person’s asthma. Thanks to this experiment and the technology of GPS people who have asthma may soon know what is triggering their attacks. Those working on the Madison project are eager to learn more about asthma attacks from the statistics they will be gathering, but the main goal of the experiment is to help individual people in their everyday life. If something insignificant causes their asthma, removing it from their home and office can greatly decrease the number of attacks they have.

GPS tracking systems are quickly spreading to many different aspects of life. This exciting new technology will be used in many new experiments throughout the medical field. With GPS making the information gathered more accurate and profitable, medical research will be enhanced and the process will be much simpler. GPS is clearly the technology of the future.