Another tech company has joined the hunt for AI algorithm-driven cough-analysis. Since early 2016 we’ve covered Australian-based ResApp Health’s smartphone-only product that captures a more complete sound frequency range when a cough exits a patient’s airways than is possible when healthcare professionals use conventional stethoscopes. We’ve written about a range of clinical studies that have shown the ResApp solution is equal or superior to traditional methods for diagnosing sleep apnea, pneumonia, asthma, and other forms of respiratory disease in adults and children.
StethoMe, an AI company based in Poland, recently announced that The European Union granted CE certification for StethoMe’s wireless stethoscope and diagnostic AI algorithms that analyze lung and heart recordings. Parents hold the StethoMe device directly on a child’s chest, following directions in an associated smartphone app. The device transmits the recordings via Bluetooth to the smartphone app which then sends the data to the Cloud where the recordings are screened by an AI system. The results are then sent to the parent, as well as to a doctor who then makes the decision about further care. According to StethoMe, medical tests found the system up to 13% more accurate than physicians analyzing heart and lung sounds with traditional stethoscopes.
The defining difference between the two solutions is this: ResApp doesn’t require any equipment other than your phone while StethoMe incorporates a small wireless device that transmits to a smartphone. The effectiveness of each solution hinges on the respective listening and recording technology first, then the AI-driven algorithms, and finally how the system handles the analysis results. The biggest win, overall, is progress made in figuring what coughs mean, whether they emanate from the chests of infants or the elderly.
