All patients will continue receiving their usual treatments. Participants will be in the study for 12 months, and will report their asthma attacks to the trial team whenever they occur during this period.
In addition, they will visit the trial team 4 times (after 3, 6, 9 and 12 months) to assess their asthma control and quality of life. At the end of the trial, we will invite participants at each site to join a group discussion where researchers will explore the participant’s thoughts about the TLA device. At the end of their participation in the trial, all participants who have used the device for more than 6 months, regardless of their initial study group, will be offered the opportunity to keep an active device in their home free of charge for a further four years.
Am I eligible to take part?
If you have asthma and would be interested in participating in the LASER trial then please contact us using the following e-mail address – info@lasertrial.co.uk or call us directly on 07730 619850
A New Treatment (Temperature-controlled Laminar Airflow (TLA)
We will test whether a new treatment delivered by a machine that reduces the number of allergy particles in the air (which cause asthma) can reduce these debilitating asthma attacks and improve patients’ quality of life.
The machine is known as a ‘Temperature-controlled Laminar Airflow (TLA)’ device, and remains at the patient’s bedside and is switched on every night, requiring no masks or other uncomfortable equipment, and is very safe and easy to use. The device works by filtering out the allergy particles in the air of the patient’s breathing zone, allowing the patient’s lungs and airways to ‘rest’ in clean air overnight.
TLA device
The TLA device has been shown to be safe for patients and effective in reducing symptoms of asthma. We now need to explore in a larger trial whether the treatment can reduce asthma attacks and asthma symptoms, such as coughing and wheezing. We will assess whether using the machine in the NHS would be cost-effective and acceptable for patients.
Do you suffer with severe Asthma?
The LASER Trial is a clinical trial for patients with allergic asthma. The trial has been designed to determine whether TLA treatment is effective in reducing the number of asthma attacks suffered by patients and to see if the treatment can improve patient’s asthma control and quality of life.
The Trial will include 222 adults, half of whom will be given a TLA device that is working, and the other half will be given a device which has been inactivated (the filtering process will be switched off, although the participants will not be able to tell that this has occurred). Which participant receives the working or deactivated device will be decided by a random process and will be unknown to the researcher and the participant.
Do you treat Patients with severe Asthma?
Temperature-controlled Laminar Airflow (TLA) is an evidence-based, non-pharmaceutical treatment for atopic asthma. The treatment is non-invasive and has an excellent safety record. TLA treatment works by stopping body convection and creating an area of essentially allergen free air in the patient’s breathing zone overnight.
TLA treatment drastically reduces the level of allergens inhaled during night-time sleep and gives the asthmatic patient’s hyperactive immune system long and regular periods of essential recovery. TLA treatment is delivered by a device called an Airsonett® device.
The LASER Trial - A breath of fresh air in Asthma!
The LASER Trial is funded by the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment Programme
(Project number 12/33/28)