According to a media release, the new research project on the effects of coronavirus infection has been launched by the CAir Konsortium, which includes the University Hospital Zurich (USZ) and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH) in addition to docdok.health, among others. The media release from docdok.health states that the project is also being supported by AstraZeneca Switzerland. With this, the research partners hope to investigate “the improvement in symptoms, lung function and quality of life in persons who have been hospitalized due to a coronavirus (specifically SARS-CoV-2) infection and the related severe lung disease to lung failure.”

For this, patients were surveyed after being discharged from the USZ using a docdok.health smartphone app, and a home monitoring system was implemented to follow-up patients. This system consists of “a lung function measuring device, an activity wristband, an air quality monitor, and a smartphone.” This system, called CAir Desk, was originally developed for the long-term care of patients with chronic lung disease.

Physicians from the USZ are able to study the data from both approaches at their place of work. For this, the data is prepared by docdok.health and presented clearly on an appropriate user interface. The company based in Basel was founded in 2017 and develops solutions to drive forward utility-based healthcare. The platform they have developed can collect and prepare patient-generated health data. This platform is already in use in five countries both for routine clinical applications and studies.