Bedfont Scientific Ltd., a Kent-based medical device manufacturer, has signed two esteemed respiratory professionals onto its Medical Advisory Board for its NObreath FeNO device. Professor and honorary consultant specialising in campus to clinic research, Dominick Shaw, and Professor at Universidade Brasil, Supervisor of MSc and PhD Program at UNIFESP and Director of IBEPIPE, Rodolfo de Paula Vieira, are the first 2 members on the NObreath Medical Advisory Board.

The NObreath Fractional exhaled Nitric Oxide (FeNO) monitor uses breath analysis to measure airway inflammation, which in turn aids in the diagnosis and management of asthma.

Prof. Vieira, who has a PHD in Pathology – specifically the immunopathology of the lungs, 3 post-doctoral accreditations, and more than 100 internationally peer-reviewed scientific articles, explains, “The body naturally produces Nitric Oxide (NO) to combat inflammation, so when your airway is inflamed, NO is produced in the lungs at large rates and exhaled on the breath (FeNO). Airway inflammation is a central process in asthma and other lung diseases as it is often found to be higher in inflammatory conditions such as asthma and therefore measuring FeNO can be used for the detection and management of such conditions.” He also explains, “FeNO can be also used as a biomarker to prevent a very common situation denominated bronchospasm-induced by exercise or asthma-induced by exercise, even in non-asthmatic individuals and in athletes”.

Prof. Shaw, a past BTS/SIGN national asthma guidelines contributor and member of the Asthma UK and NIHR RfpB UK research panels, says, “Measuring nitric oxide in the breath is quick, easy, and non-invasive for both the practitioner and the patient. Regular monitoring of a patient’s levels, can help differentiate between allergic (eosinophilic) and non-allergic subtypes of asthma. This, in turn, assists in identifying the need for inhaled corticosteroids, and titrating the level of medication safely and accurately, for improved asthma management.”

Jason Smith, Managing Director at Bedfont, adds, “We are honoured to be working with key specialists in the asthma field, Professor Vieira and Professor Shaw, and we hope to promote the life-saving benefits of FeNO monitoring together.”