May 17, 2019.
A team of American researchers has developed a smartphone application to detect the presence of fluids behind the eardrum, in the middle ear, and to perform a pre-diagnosis of otitis in children.
Detect an ear infection with a simple mobile application
When it is declared, otitis is most of the time very painful. Being able to detect it quickly would therefore save precious time. American researchers from the University of Washington, Seattle, whose work has been published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, have developed a mobile application to detect the first symptoms of an ear infection in children.
According to the researchers, the system developed allows “ detect middle ear fluid, an indicator of a likely ear infection “, Using” the microphone and speaker of a telephone to emit a sound and analyze its reflection (echo) from the eardrum “. The advantage is that the use of this screening tool can be done by parents, ” without formal medical training “.
The app shows an 85% success rate
Concretely, it will suffice for parents to place a small paper funnel that they will have previously made, in the child’s ear canal then use the application which will broadcast a light sound for 1.2 seconds. This sound, recorded by the microphone of the smartphone, will allow the application to establish a first diagnosis: if the echo is acute, there is no infection. But if it’s serious, there’s probably an infection behind the eardrum.
Researchers conducted a clinical study on 98 patients in a pediatric surgery center and the results are very encouraging: the application detected 85% of ear infections. But be careful, this is only a pre-diagnosis: it will obviously be necessary, if this application is marketed, to consult a doctor to confirm the diagnosis. For the moment, the researchers are hoping for an authorization from the American health authorities before the end of the year, to be put online in the first quarter of 2020.
Aurélie Giraud
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