Coronavirus sufferers called to cough into smartphones as part of University of Essex study

  • Anglia

Academics at the University of Essex are hoping to detect coronavirus by using artificial intelligence (AI) to listen to recordings of people coughing.

The university is running a clinical study which, if successful, could provide an alternative to swab-based testing for Covid-19.

They have asked for people who have been diagnosed with the virus to record themselves coughing into a smartphone and send it via the trial's website.

The trial is similar to one being carried out in Cambridge, which is also aiming to collect recordings of people breathing and coughing.

Researchers behind the Essex study hope it will reveal the unique characteristics of a cough caused by coronavirus.

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Dr Javier Andreu-Perez said: "The unique qualities of a coughing sound from a severe pulmonary infection, such as coronavirus, can help us to detect infection and even possibly the progression of a disease."

“We can then use advanced methods of artificial intelligence and pattern recognition to analyse these sounds in frequencies that are beyond the human hearing and be able to identify those coughs which are unique to this type of infection."

Dr Andreu-Perez is a member of Essex's School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, and is leading the technological side of the trial.

He has partnered with Dr Eva Timonet, from the Costa del Sol Health Agency in Spain, who is responsible for the clinical aspect of the study.

The researchers have asked for as many people who have tested positive as possible to submit their coughs to the trial.

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