LOCAL

Round Rock teens develop lung health app to help peers quit smoking

Ann Smajstrla Contributing writer
This group of teens from Round Rock and McNeil high schools has created a phone app that helps users quit smoking. From left to right are Pranav Venkatesh, Mainur Khan, Deepak Katta, Varun Arumugam and Shashank Kashyap. Not pictured is Kishan Patel.

When a group of Round Rock teens realized many of their peers had smoking or vaping problems, they decided to be proactive. The six friends teamed up to create Pulmonary Scan, a smoking cessation and lung health app that’s now available in Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store.

An estimated 27.5 percent of American high school students reported using e-cigarettes in 2019, and 5.8 percent reported using traditional cigarettes, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Round Rock High School seniors Mainur Khan and Pranav Venkatesh noticed this trend among their classmates, they said. Some even approached the teens and asked for help quitting.

In August of last year, Khan and Venkatesh discussed possible methods for helping their friends kick their nicotine habits. They decided they wanted to find a solution that worked “from the ground up,” and wanted something that would give users tools to help themselves, Khan said. Ultimately, they decided to make a smart phone app.

“We saw an issue and we wanted to do something. We wanted to be an instrument for good,” Khan said.

Khan and Venkatesh enlisted the help of four friends, and each assumed different roles in the app’s development. Khan, who aspires to one day be a pulmonologist, headed up the medical research. Varun Arumugam, a senior at McNeil High School, and Round Rock High School senior Deepak Katta, also worked as research developers. Venkatesh became the lead app developer, working on coding. Kishan Patel, a McNeil senior, and Shashank Kashyap, a Round Rock senior, reached out to local hospitals and clinics for help in designing the app.

The group got to work in December with the goal of publishing the app as soon as possible. Venkatesh had worked on coding projects before, but none as complex as this, he said.

“We’ve put upwards of 150 hours into coding this app,” Venkatesh said.

“And we’re competing with companies that have staff who do this full-time,” Khan added.

The bulk of the team’s labor went into five main sections of the app. The “sober counter” tracks how many days the user has been smoke-free, and will also display how much money they’ve saved on vape supplies and cigarettes. A COPD screening test prompts the user to answer basic questions related to possible symptoms they may be experiencing, then recommends whether or not the user should see a doctor for a possible lung condition.

Other sections educate the user on how smoking affects the body. An interactive “body map” allows users to tap on different parts of the body and read how smoking can negatively impact each area. “Effects of vaping” is an informational page with links to different articles that explain the risks of vaping. Finally, PulmoDaily takes users to a blog, operated by Khan, with in-depth posts about different aspects of lung health.

The coronavirus pandemic added a new sense of urgency to the project, the teens said, especially since the virus directly impacts lung health.

After being rejected from the iOS app store six times, and undergoing multiple revisions, Pulmonary Scan became available to the general public for download in July. So far, feedback has been positive. Formal endorsements from some local clinics and hospitals are forthcoming, Khan said.

"Pulmonary Scan helps me keep track of my progress in staying sober, and does a great job making this process a little bit easier,” said a Pulmonary Scan user who preferred to not be named. “I really appreciate this app, and what Mainur and Pranav have been able to do."

In the near future, the team plans to translate the app into different languages to accommodate international users. After the current school year, each teen intends to attend college and pursue careers in STEM fields or business.

Venkatesh said he hopes other young people can be inspired by the work he and his friends were able to do.

“Even though we’re kids,” he said, “we can still make an impact.”