A team at the University of Washington has invented a smartphone app that, when used with a paper funnel, is able to detect ear infections in children, helping parents decide whether a trip to the doctor is warranted.
The app, which was described in the journal Science Transnational Medicine on Wednesday, plays a sound akin to a bird chirp into a child's ear canal via a simple funnel the parents put together.
"The way to think about it is almost like a wine glass," said Shyam Gollakota, head of the lab that developed the project. A smartphone app plays a sound for 1.2 seconds; the app then uses the phone's mic to listen in: if fluids or pus have accumulated behind the eardrum, in the middle ear, the returned echo will indicate an infection.It had a success rate of 85% when tested on around a hundred cases, and, according to Gollakota, is more accurate than a visual inspection by a doctor.
Gollakota likened its utility to that of a thermometer, which helps people decide whether a visit to a doctor is appropriate.
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