A smartphone app to encourage people to quit smoking is likely to be authorized for use as a medical device by July at the earliest.
The application was submitted for approval by the Pharmaceutical Affairs and Food Sanitation Council of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry during a panel meeting.
If approved, the app will be the first in Japan to be used for medical treatment.
Those diagnosed with nicotine addiction will be prescribed the app as a medicinal aid to help refrain from smoking during periods lasting two weeks to a month, between their visits with their doctors treating outpatients who want to quit smoking.
CureApp Inc., the Tokyo-based start-up company that developed the app, hopes to make its product available for coverage under public health insurance system as soon as possible.
Should patients feel an urge to smoke, they tap a button on the app, which then displays suggestions, such as "Think about something else to divert your focus," or "Chew gum."
These proposals change the users' way of thinking and behaving and help them beat the temptation to smoke.
A separate device can also measure the density of carbon monoxide in the user's breath, as it rises if the user smokes, and that data is then sent to the app. With the data recorded in the app, their doctors can confirm how far the patients have progressed in fighting the urge to smoke.
In clinical tests to examine the app's effectiveness, results showed that 63.9% of a group who received both conventional treatments to quit smoking and used the app successfully quit smoking six months later -- 13.4 percentage points higher than that those in the group who received only conventional treatments.
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