Diagnose Your Cough with an App

Cough into this phone please: The University of Queensland has developed a mobile application that allows for the diagnosis of respiratory conditions such as pneumonia and asthma based on an algorithm that uses the sound of the patient’s cough for recognition.

“The technology is based on the premise that cough and breathing sounds carry vital information on the state of the respiratory tract,” says UQ’s Associate Professor Dr Abeyrante.

The app has been commercialised by ResApp and says it has the capability to function over multiple platforms such as smartphones, web, wearable and medical devices, potential markets for this technology range from smart-phone users to telehealth providers and organisations such as the World Health Organisation.

It is intended for use by healthcare professionals such as doctors and is being heralded as key for for decreasing patient consultation times, number of repeat visits, costs and use of antibiotics.

“I initially started developing this technology with the assistance of funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2009,” Dr Abeyratne said.

“So it’s incredibly pleasing to see it go beyond the initial conception stage, right through to UQ signing commercialisation agreements with external companies.”

ResApp CEO Tony Keating, said the application was expected to be available in 2016.