A mobile phone application capable of detecting cases of tuberculosis: this is the project that South African researchers from the University of Stellenbosch are working on, with European partners.
These researchers have developed an application that could be revolutionary in South Africa, where the tuberculosis is a leading cause of death, with more than 230,000 cases recorded in 2022. A worrying cough? With this simple application installed on a mobile phone, a nurse can detect a suspected case of tuberculosis.
« Using a simple microphone that we all have on our mobile phone, a health worker will ask the patient to cough. The sound is recorded and a program – able to recognize the characteristics of a cough caused by tuberculosis – will then determine whether the person is potentially positive and whether they should be tested “, explains Professor Grant Theron of Stellenbosch University.
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This is not a diagnosis, warns Professor Theron, but the beginning of detection, because nearly half of the cases of tuberculosis in Africa are not diagnosed, due to lack of resources:
- RFI
