A New Approaches To Enable Self-Awareness Of An Individual’S Intake Of Carbon Monoxide
The Government's anti-smoking drive has reduced the smoking rate to 12 per cent last year, and the aim now is to bring the rate to below 10 percent by 2020. Tobacco kills about 6 million people globally annually and 10 percent of people are non-smokers that were killed by second-hand smoke. It is common to see students and adult smoking during their breaks in groups or individually.
Smoking is a form of socializing with others such that rejecting to join feel like you are being left out. The declination in the proportion of smokers had no changes over the past 10 years, remaining around 23-24% in males, and 3. 5-4% in females. In addition, smoking among the youths age 18-29 has risen between 2004-2010. Around 80% of the smokers in Singapore are addicted to smoking before the age of 2. It is alarming to see the increasing number of smokers in Singapore as it does not just affect the smokers’ health, but it also harms the people around them. There are about 600 ingredients in a cigarette such as nicotine and tar. When a cigarette is burned, it releases more than 7000 chemicals, of which 69 of them are known to cause cancer and most are poisonous. Therefore, this issue should be looked into, so as to reduce the smoking rate. Smoking causes more death each year than the following causes combined, Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, firearm-related incidents.
Smoking damages the blood vessels as it thicken and grow narrower. This causes the heart rate to increase and blood pressure to rise. As clot blocks the flow of blood to the brain causes vessel in or near the brain to burst which lead to stroke. Singapore has come up with some strategies and campaigns to encourage smokers to quit smoking such as the “I Quit” campaign by Health Promotion Board, counselling and designated smoking areas. However, with all these solutions, the problem still exist as smokers do not know the impact of smoking on their health.
The proposed product, Smokey, aims to provide a convenient and non-invasive method of detecting carbon monoxide level. It uses an electrochemical sensor that integrate it into a multi-colored Light-emitting diode (LED) to detect carbon monoxide emitted from the breath of a human. Smokey is portable and compact, weighing less than 40g, and its dimensions are 5cm by 4cm by 4cm, fitting perfectly into a cigarette box for smoker to carry around. It has an electrochemical sensor that detects carbon monoxide from the breath and generates a small current proportional to the gas concentration. The signal will be stored and processed by the data logic circuit which would send the corresponding data to an LED light powered by a 0. 5V battery. When the data has been processed, the LED will light up green, indicating that the test is done. Users will need to insert the analyzer into their smart phone through the adapter and open the Smokey application in their smartphone which will display the percentage of carbon monoxide. The application allows the user to keep track of their carbon monoxide level. In addition, this application will inform the user about the withdrawal symptoms they will be facing over time such as having headache when they quit smoking. Smokey benefits users who wishes to quit smoking by providing awareness to their carbon monoxide intake. It is portable and user-friendly which can fit into any cigarette box or their pocket. It will not require any specific instruction to operate as the process is simple and straightforward.
Despite the steps taken by the government, the percentage of smokers remain high. With the help of Smokey, it can help smokers to take their first step in quitting. This product enables self-awareness of an individual’s intake of carbon monoxide. This can further motivate the smoker and reduces their urge to smoke as they will gradually see their health improving. It is important that we all play a role in working towards a smoke-free country.
