A Randomized Control Trial of ZEPHYRx Gamified Incentive Spirometry Compared to Traditional Spirometry

The primary aim of this randomized control trial is to analyze by direct comparison the ZEPHYRx Respiratory Therapy (RT) system and the FDA approved standard of care (SOC) incentive spirometer (IS), used for FDA approved indications at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC). This comparison will determine subject preferences in terms of usability and simplicity of each, as well as subject engagement and adherence to the prescribed respiratory therapy routine. Additionally, the study will analyze the effectiveness of the gamified spirometry with regards to spirometry volumes, frequency of usage, and pulmonary complications 30 days post discharge.

Lobectomy and wedge resection patients at University of Rochester Medical Center meeting the eligibility criteria will be screened and consented by members of the research team prior to surgery at their pre-operative clinic visit. Once a subject meets the inclusion criteria for this study, the subject will be randomly assigned to one of the two arms of this study by a flip of a coin. To ensure that we meet the predicted 50 subjects in each arm of the study, every second subject enrolled will be assigned to the opposite arm of the previously assigned subject. Subjects enrolled in the study arm: Following surgery or extubation, and once no longer under the influence of anesthesia, the patient enrolled into the study arm will be provided with a ZEPHYRx incentive spirometer device connected to an Amazon Kindle Fire HD Tablet. A respiratory therapist, nurse, doctor, or research team member will teach the subject how to use the device and the tablet, and walk them through the first series of breaths. A built-in bell reminder in the device will ring once every hour between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. to remind patients to use the device, this feature is part of the research and a feature programmed into the device. Additionally, subjects will answer questions on their tablet about pain level on a scale of 0-10 before and after each round of game play. At discharge, the subjects in the study arm will return their assigned tablet and will be issued a standard incentive spirometer to continue respiratory therapy at home, per standard of care. Subjects in the study arm will not be held responsible for lost, stolen or damaged tablets or incentive spirometers. The subject in the study arm may choose to keep or discard the ZEPHYRx incentive spirometer device. The device will record subject usage, including number of breaths, number of sessions, total time the device was in use, inspiratory volumes, and pain level (0-10) before and after each round of game play. Subjects enrolled in the control arm: Following surgery or extubation, and once no longer under the influence of anesthesia, the patient enrolled in the control arm will meet with an RT, nurse, doctor, or research team member to receive an FDA approved incentive spirometry device and appropriate training thus initiating the study. Routine respiratory care involves the use of a standard incentive spirometer that is not a digital device and does not include any built-in reminder. As per routine care, the nurse or respiratory therapist will remind the subjects in both arms of the study to perform their respiratory therapy of at least 10 breaths per hour. In order to obtain data comparable to what the ZEPHYRx respiratory therapy system will collect, similar data will be collected from subjects in the control arm on a data sheet by an RT, nurse, doctor, or research team member 3 times a day until the subject is discharged. The only questionnaire will be the standard of care pain scale questions which the subjects in the control arm will have to complete in written form. Upon discharge, subjects in the control arm of the study will be allowed to keep their standard of care incentive spirometer in order to continue respiratory therapy at home, per standard of care. Subjects in the control arm will not be held responsible for lost, stolen or damaged incentive spirometers. On a daily basis, a member of the research team will check that the device(s) is/are working correctly and will answer any questions the subject may have regarding the study or device.