We have taken a machine learning approach to develop...

We have taken a machine learning approach to develop highly-accurate algorithms which diagnose disease from cough and respiratory sounds. Machine learning is an artificial intelligence technique that constructs algorithms with the ability to learn from data. In our approach, signatures that characterise the respiratory tract are extracted from cough and breathing sounds. We start by matching signatures in a large database of sound recordings with known clinical diagnoses. Our machine learning tools then find the optimum combination of these signatures to create an accurate diagnostic test or severity measure (this is called classification). Importantly, the team at The University of Queensland believes these signatures are consistent across the population and not specific to an individual so there is no need for a personalised database.