A decent health worker can determine a lot about your respiratory health by listening to your cough. Now, some scientists think software on your phone should be able to accomplish the same thing.
Whether a cough is dry or wet, or “productive” or “non-productive” (referring to the presence of mucus on the lungs), can give a doctor information about what is causing that cough, for example whether it is caused by a bacterial or a viral infection.
Health workers can distinguish the different kinds of cough by sound. Now, it is claimed, the new software will do the same, and will save patients a trip to the surgery – or tell them when they are at risk of serious illness.
And you thought sitting next to someone using their cell phone was irritating now…
