Respiratory disease affects around one in five people, and the UK has one of the highest rates of asthma in the world, affecting around one in 11 children and one in 12 adults.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), a group of lung diseases that cause breathing problems, is another major burden. Around 1.7 million people in the UK have COPD, while many others are living with the condition without knowing it. The diagnosis gap is significant. At least 600,000 people in the UK are currently waiting for a formal COPD diagnosis, while many healthcare providers lack the capacity to meet demand for diagnostic testing.
Further, because clinicians typically associate COPD with smoking, often those patients get missed because it’s a cognitive shortcut that clinicians make: symptomatic plus smoking equals COPD.
The consequences of late diagnosis can be severe. COPD is the second-leading cause of acute hospital admissions in the UK, and a quarter of patients are diagnosed only after their first hospital admission.
TidalSense is a UK medtech developing new ways to diagnose respiratory diseases, led by CEO Dr Ameera Patel, who is both a medical doctor and an engineer. Founded in 2013, the company spent much of its first six years focused on ensuring its hardware and sensor technology work reliably in clinical settings.
