Dial your phone and cough: New cell phone device can diagnose the sniffles
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009Since seasonal cold and flu sufferers are likely to be coughing into their cell phones anyway, some American and Australian scientists say that they might as well get some medical use out of it.
Discovery News reports that coughs have very specific structures, and can produce sonically complicated patterns that doctors may be able to use to identify certain facets of a patient’s illness. Variables like mucus in the lungs and throat could help distinguish – over the phone, no less – the difference between common colds or dangerous pneumonia.
The scientists at STAR Analytical Services of Bedford, Massachusetts recently received a donation from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to pursue their research into the diagnosis of disease by the sound of a patient’s cough. "It’s the most common symptom when a patient presents, and we are relying on doctors and nurses with good old technology from the 19th century," STAR’s Suzanne Smith told MSNBC.
Cell-phone-based medical technology is advancing in leaps and bounds, as a team from the University of California recently developed an app to turn a cell phone camera into a microscope.
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