ASU invention helps people worldwide reach weight goals
A medical professional helps a patient use Breezing Med, an ASU-created device that’s transforming how people are able to manage weight loss goals. Photo courtesy Breezing Co.
A technology created at Arizona State University is helping doctors and their patients overcome challenges in weight loss.
By 2035, over 1.5 billion people globally will have obesity, including over half of American adults, according to the World Obesity Federation.
“Tackling obesity is also tackling the roots of many other diseases related to obesity, like Type 2 diabetes, heart diseases, metabolic disorders, pulmonary disorders and sleep apnea. Many cancers are also triggered by obesity,” says Erica Forzani, a professor in ASU’s School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy.
Forzani and the late Professor NJ Tao, both faculty in the Biodesign Center for Bioelectronics and Biosensors, developed a device called Breezing to address this challenge. It works by analyzing users’ breath to gain insights into their metabolism.
Breezing provides key information about a patient’s metabolism that standard-practice equations and estimates can’t capture. With this data, doctors can make personalized weight loss plans. They can also monitor progress and adjust patients’ plans to help them push past the weight loss “plateau” that often keeps people from reaching their goals.
Breezing Med has been FDA-cleared as a medical device in the U.S. since 2020. This spring, it received Medical Device Regulation, or MDR, certification from the European Union. Now, Breezing has the chance to address obesity internationally.
“The European Commission is very stringent in terms of certifications like this one, so we are very proud of this achievement,” Forzani says.
Breezing has helped improve weight management since 2011. The startup, Breezing Co., won awards from the 2018 Arizona Innovation Challenge and an ASU InvestU pitching event in 2019. With support from ASU Skysong Innovations, the Breezing team pursued medical device approvals.
Breezing Med is meant to be used at the doctor’s office. It’s an ideal tool for a variety of clinical departments, including obesity medicine, bariatric surgery, endocrinology, family medicine and nutrition.
"Now that Breezing Med’s medical device certification is available in Europe, we can finally measure resting energy expenditure much more efficiently compared to the old methods. This saves us as clinicians and our patients a lot of time. It has become much more affordable to incorporate this metric into our pre- and postoperative patient care, giving valuable additional information to guide patients to a healthier weight," says Dr. Edo Aarts, a bariatric and metabolic surgeon and CEO of MoreCare Clinics in the Netherlands.
Losing weight requires eating fewer calories than you burn. Breezing measures resting metabolic rate, which is how many calories the body burns at rest. Over time, the body can adapt to a low-calorie diet by lowering resting metabolic rate, thus stopping weight loss in its tracks.
Another key to weight loss is the kind of fuel (carbs, fats or proteins) the body uses for energy. Breezing measures respiratory quotient, which reflects the type of fuel being used. Typically, the body uses carbs first. When those run out, the body will switch to burning fat. But in people with obesity, the body may struggle to use fat as an energy source.
Breezing gives health care professionals the data they need to help patients overcome these two weight loss challenges by adjusting diet and physical activity as the body changes.
At the first appointment, the patient breathes normally into the Breezing device. It measures metabolic rate, respiratory quotient, and six other respiratory and pulmonary parameters during a short 10-minute test. Looking at those values, the doctor recommends an exercise and diet plan specific to that patient.
The patient returns for a follow-up after a month and repeats the test with Breezing. This allows the doctor to see whether the patient’s metabolism has changed. If so, the doctor can adjust the exercise and diet plan to help the patient avoid stalled weight loss progress.
Mandy Megan Conyers-Smith, a Canadian registered dietician, has been using Breezing Pro (a consumer version of the tool) in her practice to find out her clients’ energy needs as part of their nutrition assessments.
“Understanding each client’s metabolic needs has been invaluable — especially for those experiencing challenges with weight management, chronic fatigue or metabolic changes from long-term dieting,” Conyers-Smith says.
Breezing’s unique sensing technology offers one of the most accurate ways to measure resting energy expenditure. Conyers-Smith says this gives her confidence to use Breezing Pro to support her clients with effective, personalized and sustainable nutrition plans.
“In my experience,” she adds, “undergoing the analysis often increases clients' motivation and follow-through with nutrition recommendations that align with their personal health goals.”
About this story
There's a reason research matters. It creates technologies, medicines and other solutions to the biggest challenges we face. It touches your life in numerous ways every day, from the roads you drive on to the phone in your pocket.
The ASU research in this article was possible only because of the longstanding agreement between the U.S. government and America’s research universities. That compact provides that universities would not only undertake the research but would also build the necessary infrastructure in exchange for grants from the government.
That agreement and all the economic and societal benefits that come from such research have recently been put at risk.
Learn about more solutions to come out of ASU research at news.asu.edu/research-matters.
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