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The aim is to create software that can differentiate between the two and make a mobile phone application that can accurately recognize a cough connected to TB and other serious diseases. Natural or forced coughs are collected using three microphones, including a cheap version, a high-definition one, and a microphone on a smartphone.
Kenya Medical Research Institute research is working towards creating a mobile phone application that uses AI to diagnose tuberculosis and other respiratory diseases. The team is aiming to develop an AI-based app, which Dr Videlis Nduba leads. The team records coughs from people with respiratory diseases like tuberculosis as well as people without disease.
The aim is to create software that can differentiate between the two and make a mobile phone application that can accurately recognize a cough connected to TB and other serious diseases. Natural or forced coughs are collected using three microphones, including a cheap version, a high-definition one, and a microphone on a smartphone.
The results are sent to the University of Washington which puts them through an existing computer software system called ResNet 18. It is a mathematical way of modeling the cough image to determine whether there is a difference between someone with TB when they cough and someone without TB when they cough.
Nduba believes that if the software can be proven in trials to perform accurately, it can shorten the time before a patient can get a diagnosis and treatment, and that will help curb the spread of TB. The biggest achievement is reduced time to diagnosis which can help treatment at the earliest. However, the software is not yet accurate enough to meet the standard required by the World Health Organisation.
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The WHO says the application must be at least 90% accurate in recognizing a TB infection and it must be at least 80% accurate at detecting if no infection exists. Nduba’s trials so far have shown 80% accuracy at detecting TB and 70% accuracy for detecting there is no TB. The trial has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, but it has not yet received any regulatory approval.
