Since the COVID19 pandemic has hit the world, a sign of cough triggers a panic attack among people. However, a team of experts from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has come up with artificial intelligence (AI) tool, which can detect whether a person is infected with COVID19 from the sound of their cough. As per the report, this tool uses neural networks to spot a slight change in people’s coughing patterns. It shows whether the people are actually infected with the disease even if they do not show any other symptoms. People with no symptoms at all have been a major factor in the spread of the virus, as they are less likely to be tested in the absence of symptoms. Such carriers of the virus can easily infect others unknowingly. With the new tool, it will be quite easy to track down such people with no major symptoms.
Scientists have said that the difference between a healthy person’s cough and the cough of someone who has been infected with the virus is so tiny that it cannot be detected by the human ears. Now, experts have made an AI tool with the help of tens of thousands of recorded cough sound samples and spoken words to detect these tiny changes in cough. The early results of this tool have been highly accurate. This AI tool has been able to detect 98.5 percent of coughs from people who have been tested positive for COVID19. It has been able to detect 100 percent of coughs from people who have not shown any symptoms.
Experts say that one neural network of the tool looks for cough sounds linked to vocal chord strength. While another neural set-up detects signs of one’s emotional state like frustration, which can exhibit a flat effect. A third network notices slight changes in the lungs and respiratory performance. Experts have combined all three networks and covered them with an algorithm to identify muscle dilapidation. Many experts have said that the sound of a cough can reveal important signs related to one’s overall health. Experts have said that though the AI tool has been quite accurate, however, it cannot be replaced as an alternative for a COVID19 test. This tool has not been developed to diagnose those people who have been actively showing symptoms of the disease.
