The Australian company ResApp's system competes with rapid antigen tests and has an accuracy of 92%, for example 
August, distribution in the European Union was approved.
The sound of a few coughs is enough and the new Pfizer-funded app will be able to identify the presence of the Sars CoV-2 virus. It's like an antigen test, with an accuracy of 92%. The pharmaceutical giant invested $116 million, and closed all operations after a long courtship with ResApp, an Australian company that has long been involved in digital healthcare.
Since April, Pfizer has begun to offer increasingly large sums to ResApp. She started from 65 million, raised to 74.2 and closed the deal at 116. An insistent court, but not without reason. In fact, for about ten years ResApp has been using machine learning algorithms to analyze the recordings of cough and respiratory sounds and catalog a wide range of pathologies. Pneumonia, bronchitis, cough or asthma.
The pilot study
At the beginning of 2022, the first results of the pilot study showed that the system is able to accurately detect the 92% of positive Covid cases, just from the sound of the cough. Not only that, it also recorded 80% specificity, so tests are unlikely to produce false positives. The app can only be used in symptomatic cases. The ResApp program received the CE mark for deployment in Europe in August and was approved by Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration.
“We are certain that the agreement with Pfizer will help our research to make this technology ever more precise and reliable, especially for the people who will use it in the near future, already this autumn”, explain the top management of ResApp. "After all, our goal is to always provide the community with new tools to deal with diseases, in this case to contain a return of Covid-19".
How the app works
ResApp Health was born in 2000 in Brisbone, and immediately started using a screening technology characterized by the machine learning process. The app will analyze coughs through the smartphone microphone. Then, thanks to artificial intelligence, it will be possible to classify them, recognizing the Covid-19. The result is the result of long trainings.
Through recording sessions, the AI has learned to catalog the different coughs, tracing them back to a specific pathology. A similar process had already been done by ResApp on Alzheimer's patients. Also in this case the recognition of the disease was possible thanks to biological biomarkers, linked to the strength of the vocal cords, respiration, and muscle degradation.
Emerging technologies and therapeutics report
Note: This app is only available to patients who receive a code from their doctor for a test as part of a telehealth consultation.
ResAppDx is a smartphone app used by the doctor to aid in the diagnosis of respiratory diseases.
The app listens to your coughs and analyzes your cough sounds - the test results are then provided directly to your doctor, helping them make an accurate assessment of what might be causing you discomfort.
ResAppDx is TGA approved for ARTG listing as a Class IIa medical device. You should only use this app in consultation with a doctor. You should always consult your doctor in addition to using the app and before making any medical decisions.
For more information or if you are unsure, ask your doctor.
Developed by ResApp Health, a digital health company that develops smartphone apps for diagnosing and managing respiratory diseases. (source Google Play)
