Researchers Develop Smart Necklace To Help Quit Smoking

Researchers from Northwestern Medicine have created a smart necklace that resembles a lapis blue pendant and can detect smoking considerably more accurately than earlier systems. It does this by using thermal sensors to record heat signatures.

SmokeMon

SmokeMon is a necklace that entirely protects a smoker's privacy by only monitoring heat and not images, as per a press release on Monday, Feb. 13.

According to lead researcher Nabil Alshurafa, associate professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, this new device extends much beyond a person's daily cigarette consumption.

"We can detect when the cigarette is being lit, when the person holds it to their mouth and takes a puff, how much they inhale, how much time between puffs and how long they have the cigarette in their mouth," Alshurafa said in a statement.

These aspects are called smoking topography and it is significant because it enables scientists to estimate harmful carbon monoxide exposure among smokers and under the connection between chemical exposure and diseases related to tobacco consumption such as cancer, stroke, lung disease, heart disease, and many more.

It also helps smokers to quit the habit by employing smoking topography and understanding its relation to relapses from a person who already quit smoking.

The wearable tech could predict when a person is likely to relapse by keeping track of their smoke intake. It will also identify when an intervention is needed and notifies a health coach to prevent the relapse.

The efficiency of the instrument in detecting smoking puffs and topography from electronic cigarettes will also be investigated by the researchers.

Death by Smoking

Each year, smoking is said to be responsible for more than 8 million deaths worldwide. In the US, smoking continues to be the primary contributor to more than 480,000 deaths annually, or one in every five deaths.

Around 12.5% of adults in the US are smokers and it was estimated in 2018 that it will cost the country over $600 billion in healthcare spending and lost productivity.

"Now we can begin to test the effectiveness of this device in improving the success rate of smoking cessation programs by preventing relapse in smokers who are planning to quit," Alshurafa said.

The team will also test whether real-time feedback and interventions can be more efficient than regular care.

The study is due to be published in Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable, and Ubiquitous Technologies.