Home Monitoring to Predict Exacerbation in Cystic Fibrosis

Participants will collect the following clinical information daily: pulse rate and oxygen saturations, wellness and cough scores, spirometry measurements, physical activity, temperature, weight and sleep quantity and quality. The patients will also collect daily sputum samples.

Data will be collected via Bluetooth-enabled devices and transmitted via a Smart-phone to a secure National Health Service approved web-based site to be analyzed.

The information obtained will allow the investigators to develop a software program that will identify signals that can predict the onset of a chest infection before symptoms develop.

The investigators will also measure specific substances in sputum to identify changes before, during and after chest infections. The investigators hope this additional information will enable them to more accurately predict the onset of chest infections in cystic fibrosis.

The results of this study will determine if it is possible to develop a simple sputum test for patients to use at home in combination with other home-based assessments of well-being to provide an early warning system of a chest infection before patients feel unwell.

Inclusion criteria

• Diagnosis of Cystic Fibrosis based on genetic testing and/or sweat chloride.
• Age ≥ 18 years of age.
• A history of at least 1 acute pulmonary exacerbation in the past 12 months.
• Able to provide written informed consent.
• Willing and able to produce daily sputum samples.
• Willing and able to provide daily telemetric measure of several physiological parameters.

Exclusion criteria

• Patients unable to provide written informed consent
• Patients unable to produce daily sputum samples
• Less than 1 infective pulmonary exacerbation in 12 months
• Lung transplant recipients