From Co-Creation to the Patient’s Home: Zana Advances the COPD Patient Companion within DACIL

Zana is proud to mark an important milestone in the development of the COPD Patient Companion, a digital health solution co-developed by the Zana team as part of the DACIL project.

The latest version of the COPD Patient Companion was recently demonstrated during the DACIL consortium meeting, bringing together the work of a multidisciplinary European consortium spanning clinical expertise, research, technology, industry, and patient perspectives.

Designed through close collaboration with patients, healthcare professionals, researchers, and technology partners, the COPD Patient Companion goes beyond the concept of a traditional health application. It is being developed as a digital layer around the patient’s COPD journey, supporting patients both inside and outside the clinical environment.

The solution combines patient engagement, self-monitoring, personalized support, and AI-powered capabilities, with the goal of creating a stronger connection between what patients experience in their everyday lives and the care they receive from healthcare professionals.

A key focus of the current development is the integration of voice AI and wearable sensing technologies, which have the potential to provide additional insights into a patient’s condition while supporting more personalized and proactive care.

Alongside the technological development, Zana is also focusing on the path toward long-term adoption. During the consortium meeting, Julia Hoxha presented the commercialization pathway for the COPD Patient Companion, exploring how the solution can move beyond the research project and toward sustainable implementation within healthcare systems.

What Comes Next

The project is now entering its next important phase, with a focus on:

• Moving the COPD Patient Companion into the home study
• Continuing the integration of voice AI and wearable sensing
• Building the clinical evidence needed to demonstrate its impact
• Developing a scalable commercialization strategy for future adoption

For Zana, the project reflects an approach to digital health innovation centred on real-world needs: co-creating with patients and clinicians, validating technology in real-life environments, and considering clinical and commercial impact from the very beginning.

The next step brings the COPD Patient Companion closer to where it is ultimately intended to make a difference: the patient’s home.