高清福利片

After the death of his wife, John Notaras kept such a careful eye on his two daughters that his eldest, Thea, used to call him 鈥淢other Hen鈥�. Thea was nine and her sister Melanie eight when their mother died, leaving their father alone to care for them. He was particularly protective of Thea because she suffered from severe asthma, which seemed to grow worse after her mother was gone.

Thea鈥檚 respiratory arrests would leave her blue from lack of breath. On at least 20 occasions, her father saved her life with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. 鈥淏ut then,鈥� he says, 鈥渙n the 21st time, I wasn鈥檛 there.鈥�

Thea Notaras died on 10 September 1988, two weeks shy of her 17th birthday. She had an asthma attack while out with friends. Her father had asked her that morning if she had checked her peak flow meter, a handheld device asthmatics use to monitor their condition by measuring airflow from the lungs. 鈥淪he said, 鈥榶eah, yeah鈥� and off she went,鈥� he says, remembering the day.

When Thea came home feeling unwell, there was no-one else in the house. By the time her sister came home and called an ambulance, it was too late.

Giving generously to fight asthma

Asthma kills approximately 400 people in Australia every year. Of those deaths, more than two-thirds could be prevented with treatment and care.

Notaras hopes to help shield others from the kind of tragedy he has endured. He has donated $335,000 to support asthma research at the University of Sydney and the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research. His gift is funding a clinical trial of technology that could save lives by warning asthma sufferers of imminent flare-ups.

Others are through a crowdfunding campaign. On 17 September, we acknowledged the donors who support research and education with the University's inaugural .

A new device to track聽lung function

The donor-funded study, led by 听补苍诲听, has seen 53 people with asthma testing a new use-at-home device to monitor lung function. As patients breathe into a mouthpiece, gentle soundwaves probe their lungs 鈥� a technique called 鈥渇orced oscillation鈥�. The results are available to patients and their doctors via digital technology, so they can track lung function day to day.

The trial aims to demonstrate the device鈥檚 accuracy in predicting attacks. King believes it could transform medicine鈥檚 approach to the disease.

鈥淲hen it comes to asthma we are still walking around in the dark ages,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e are still using crude measurements we鈥檝e had since the 1940s. We need a major change in the way we manage the illness.鈥�

Existing 鈥渃rude鈥� measurement techniques include the peak flow meter 鈥� the tool Thea Notaras used to monitor her asthma. While peak flow measurements can be useful, they can also be difficult to interpret 鈥� even for doctors, if they do not regularly use the technique.

Many patients also find the peak flow test, which requires strong outward breaths, difficult and tiring to perform. These barriers mean peak flow recordings are infrequently used to manage asthma. Many doctors and patients prefer to base treatment decisions on symptoms, such as wheezing and breathlessness. While this strategy works for some, symptoms can be deceptive and vary between individuals.

The new device provides an easier way for patients to test their own lung function at home, potentially identifying when their asthma is well controlled, when it changes or becomes unstable.

The device is in the early stages of development and testing, but there is technology available to transfer the data it records directly to healthcare providers. All of this is in stark contrast to current approaches to asthma, which favour symptoms over objective measurements.

'This technology could save lives'

Trial participant Amy Webster has suffered from severe asthma since she was a child. Many times when she has been hospitalised, battling for every breath, she has been asked to do a peak flow test.

鈥淲hen I鈥檓 really unwell, I just can鈥檛,鈥� she says. 鈥淧eak flow requires quite a strong breath out. It can make you feel dizzy. It鈥檚 always a bit of a drag, and when you鈥檙e not feeling well, it鈥檚 very hard to do.鈥�

During the trial, she used the forced oscillation device every morning, sitting at a table in her Terrey Hills home, breathing gently into the mouthpiece for a couple of minutes. That鈥檚 all it took for the device to take a daily measure of her lung function and send the data to King and his research team.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a bit of a gamechanger,鈥� she says. 鈥淯p to now, there really hasn鈥檛 been a reliable way to have an objective measure of the condition of your lungs. And the thing about asthma flare-ups is, if you can catch them early, you can start treatment and reduce their severity and duration. I definitely think this technology could save lives.鈥�

King and his team are working with Italian engineers to make the device smaller. He envisages a day when the machine 鈥� now the size of a basketball 鈥� is a compact, handheld device that connects to a patient鈥檚 smartphone, sending daily data to their doctor and guiding treatment decisions that will help prevent attacks.

If Thea Notaras were alive today, she would be 47 years old. Her father still thinks about her every day. 鈥淎t my stage in life, I can afford to make a contribution after many years of hard work,鈥� Notaras says. 鈥淚鈥檝e always wanted to do something against this dreadful disease.鈥�

On 17 September, we celebrated University donors with Thank You Day.聽