rLung

rLung is a $35 portable spirometer and diagnostic algorithm that helps diagnose and differentiate between the five most common chronic respiratory diseases, the third leading cause of death worldwide. Standard spirometers cost around ten times more and stay out of reach for rural clinics in emerging countries, so rLung was designed for frontline health workers in line with WHO task-shifting guidelines. The device replaces the expensive airflow transducer with a cost-effective differential pressure sensor, housed in a 3D-printed frame with custom PCBs, and measures both inspiratory and expiratory lung volumes where most low-cost designs capture only exhalation. Calibrated against a medical-grade Fleisch pneumotachograph, the prototype reached 85% diagnostic accuracy versus 91% for professional spirometers, with a companion app that uses simplified visuals so low-literacy patients can take part in their own diagnosis. Built with Jahnavi Jambholkar and funded by a $2,000 Innovation Catalysts grant from UC Berkeley's Jacobs Institute, the work was written up as a paper and poster, accepted at ISAM 2023, and presented at Carnegie Mellon University, including a panel discussion.