New smartphone app capable of ‘hearing’ ear infections through paper

Saving people from frequent doctor visits, scientists have created an artificially intelligent app that can ‘hear’ ear infections with the help of a paper cone.

A team of researchers from the University of Washington have created an AI smartphone app that can easily help diagnose ear infections, with the help of the phone’s microphone, its speaker and a small paper cone.

The app sends short, sound pulses through the small paper funnel and into the ear canal. It then measures the echo of the sounds, and an algorithm in the app uses the reading to predict if there is fluid behind the eardrum – one of the common symptoms of infection, reported Engadget.

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“At a high level, it is like tapping a wine glass,” researcher Shyam Gollakota told Digital Trends. “Depending on how much liquid is in it, you get different sounds. In our case, we are not tapping but sending sounds, and using machine learning on these sounds to detect the presence of liquid.”

The study published in Science Translational Medicine, is particularly focused on diagnosing ear infections in kids. It involved about 50 children that their ears checked with the app. The tool turned out to be correct about 85% of the time, which is comparable to the technology already used in clinical settings.

According to NPR, the app is still in development and hopes to require FDA approval by the year’s end before hitting the market by early 2020. The team hopes that this app might help parents easily diagnose ear infections in children in future.