One of the worse part of getting a disease that affects you lung is having the mucus accumulate in them. You then have to cough like crazy to get the nasty stuff out, else you won’t be able to breathe properly. Fortunately, thanks to the $40 lung flute, getting the phlegm out of your lungs may soon become an easy task.

Today, doctors in Japan use the $40 Lung Flute as a tool to collect sputum from patients suspected of carrying tuberculosis, and in Europe and Canada it’s used to help test phlegm for lung cancer. Clinical trials in the U.S. have shown that it is at least as effective as current COPD treatments. At press time, Hawkins expected the device to receive FDA approval any day, and says the reusable device could also provide home relief for patients with cystic fibrosis, influenza and asthma.

[Via PopSci]