AIRS: Breathing Life into Oxygen Therapy

The Problem

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third-leading cause of death worldwide, and oxygen therapy is central to managing it. Current systems are prone to hidden failures like:

  • Disconnections, leaks and kink
  • Depleted tanks, improper oxygen titration and oxygen concentrator malfunctions

Patients may receive too little or too much oxygen, both of which carry serious risks. Clinicians, meanwhile, often lack real-time insights, relying on intermittent spot checks that can miss critical changes.

The solution

Advanced Interactive Response Systems (AIRS) is a Michigan-based medical device company founded by a respiratory therapist inspired by her personal experiences with patients and family members living with COPD. AIRS’ oxygen flow monitor (OFM) is the first device to continuously track both the patient and oxygen supply, securely streaming data to a HIPAA-compliant cloud portal, enabling remote monitoring by clinicians and caregivers.

Support and clinical collaboration

AIRS was selected for the 2024 Conquer Detroit Accelerator, a partnership between the MSU Research Foundation and Henry Ford Health. From this program, AIRS partnered with Henry Ford Health pulmonary physicians to design a clinical feasibility study now underway at Henry Ford Health’s Pulmonary Rehabilitation Center.

Looking ahead

Using the knowledge gained from the current study, AIRS hopes to have FDA approval to begin production of the device by late 2026. Target markets include hospitals, nursing homes, home health and oxygen suppliers, and the team is actively working to secure an investment partnership.