Reading Smoke Signals

Smoking may not be as common as it once was, but it is still a leading cause of preventable deaths and diseases, with approximately 1.3 billion smokers globally. According to the World Health Organization, smoking is responsible for nearly eight million deaths each year, and it is predicted to cause up to one billion deaths in the 21st century. Smoking is a significant public health issue that affects not only smokers but also their families and communities.

In addition to lung cancer, smoking is a known risk factor for a wide range of health problems, including heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease, and several types of cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, smoking is responsible for about 30% of all cancer deaths in the United States, including 80% of lung cancer deaths. These health problems cost an estimated $300 billion in direct medical expenses and lost productivity annually in the United States alone.

These days, the dangers of smoking are well known, which leads many smokers to try and kick the habit. These efforts are commonly met with limited success, however, due to the addictive nature of nicotine. Anything that might be able to help people quit smoking is desperately needed. Researchers at Northwestern University have recently described a device they have developed that could be just what smokers need to become ex-smokers. Their smart necklace keeps track of a smoker’s habit and collects a wide array of data that can be used to nip bad habits in the bud before they turn into a full-blown relapse.

In addition to detecting the action of smoking itself, the necklace can also detect puffs, puff volume, and duration. While there are existing devices that track these metrics, they are bulky and expensive, and they commonly use obtrusive sensors like cameras, which make them impractical and undesirable for everyday use. The team’s necklace, on the other hand, is small and only requires a low-resolution heat sensor to operate, which protects the wearer’s privacy.

The heat signature captured by the sensor is processed by a deep learning algorithm that has been trained to detect when a cigarette is being lit, when the cigarette is being held to the mouth, how much smoke is inhaled, and how much time elapses between puffs. In addition to giving smokers and their health coaches the data needed to quit smoking for good, this data is also useful to researchers studying the relationship between tobacco and cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung disease, diabetes, COPD, and other ailments.

The team believes that the insights provided by the necklace can be leveraged by health coaches in real time, who would be able to contact the wearer and intervene the moment that risky behavior is recognized. To test this theory, a small study of 19 individuals was conducted. After 115 smoking sessions, the data collected under real-world conditions was analyzed. Anecdotal reports from smoking cessation specialists indicated that the real-time measurements offered a considerable amount of help in understanding each patient and tailoring treatment plans accordingly.

Given the small size and unobtrusive nature of this necklace, it may be a device that smokers would actually wear on a regular basis, which is the first hurdle any solution must clear to be useful. And with a battery that lasts up to 19 hours between charges, the necklace can provide useful insights all day long.