Mobile phone recorded cough diagnosis
Recently, I read about an MIT AI (Artificial Intelligence) Algorithm that can identify your COVID-19 status with a great deal of accuracy, (they claim more than 98%) by just listening to the sound of you coughing, even if you are asymptomatic. How cool is that!
My question is, why isn't this everywhere?
Amazingly this cell phone recorded cough diagnosis also works for people who are asymptomatic. Humans can't infer the differences in the sounds of the coughs, but artificial intelligence can.
Barriers
One reason that this software is not already on each of our mobile phones, is that the developers are required to get regulatory approval before they would be allowed to develop this technology into an app. Surely those results speak for themselves? Let's hope we see that app in the play store really soon.
Accuracy and Results
The team trained their AI model on many thousands of samples of coughs, and also on spoken words. The results were staggeringly accurate.
Positive impact
Surely this would re-open travel corridors, free up test and trace facilities and allow medical staff to get on top of their current workload? Not to mention the costs and invasive nature of the procedure and the physical testing items themselves. I still don't really want to lose a part of my memory to a 12-inch swab test.
A report published in the IEEE Journal of Engineering in Medicine and Biology said: "Practical use cases could be for daily screening of students, workers and public, as schools, jobs, and transport reopen, or for pool testing to quickly alert of outbreaks in groups,".
Environmental impact
Another thing close to my heart is the environmental and ecological impact that all these discarded items have on the natural world. Although I realise that most humans just can't be bothered, it still irks me.
Current projects
Cambridge University, Carnegie Mellon University and a company called Novoic are reportedly working on similar projects.
What can we do
I submitted my cough to the site in the hope that I could help in some small way. Perhaps you could support them too?
Thanks.
I think I would rather have a test like this as it's less invasive than a swab test and the result would be available far quicker. 💉