US researchers have developed a new app in which it should be immediately recognizable: Corona-positive or at least Corona-negative.
The user just has to cough.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers have developed a new app.
It should stop the spread of the coronavirus.
The user just has to cough.
Boston - Does this technical development help fight Corona *?
The renowned
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
has developed an
app
that is supposed to easily detect
a
Covid-19
infection.
Many experts consider rapid tests to be one of the most important tools in the fight against the pandemic.
"The results could be a practical screening tool for people who are not suspected of having an infection," wrote
MIT
in a press release.
The
app
is designed to
tell
from the sound of
a person's
coughing
whether this person is
corona-
positive.
The database
application
consists of thousands
Hust
noises of infected and healthy individuals.
According to lead scientist Juan Brian Subirana, the analysis software is extremely reliable.
This pre-screening program could reduce the spread of the
virus
"if everyone uses it before going to school, work or a restaurant," says Subirana.
Researchers have found that asymptomatic Covid-19 patients may have distinctive coughs.
Indecipherable to the human ear, the differences can be picked up by artificial intelligence.
Cellphone-recorded coughs could provide a convenient screening tool.
https://t.co/OyHqC2KqNk pic.twitter.com/0kYdEIXQkd
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (@MIT) October 29, 2020
Corona app from the USA: Will it help contain the virus?
The
app
is based on
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
to detect
Covid-19
infections.
To do this, the
neural networks used
by the
AI
could
detect
even the smallest changes in the sound of
a person's
cough
, which could indicate the effects of the novel
coronavirus *
.
Brian Subirana's team of scientists collected a
total of around 200,000
cough
recordings from more than 70,000 volunteers.
2500 of the participants tested positive for the
virus
.
With this data, which was then
Artificial Intelligence
of the
Application
"fed".
The success of the program has so far
proven
the developers right: 98.5 percent of
those infected with
corona
who showed symptoms were correctly identified by the algorithm.
For asymptomatically infected participants -
i.e.
people without
corona
symptoms - the rate was even 100 percent.
MIT
noted
that around 17 percent of those who were not infected tested false positive.
And yet: Apparently the symptoms are perceptible - at least by an artificial intelligence.
Corona breakthrough thanks to the US app?
This is intended to detect infection
In a next step, the scientists are working together with the Japanese company Takeda Pharmaceutical and hospitals all over the world in order
to be able to offer
the
app
free of charge and in a user-friendly manner.
However
, Subirana emphasizes, the
AI
model is not intended to diagnose symptomatic diseases.
Its strength lies in its ability to distinguish an asymptomatic cough from a healthy cough.
According to researchers, the
app
can be easily integrated into everyday life: "A user could log in every day, cough into his phone and immediately receive information about whether he is possibly infected and should therefore be confirmed with a formal test," explained the scientists in your message.
