StethoCloud, a low-cost solution to pneumonia diagnoses

The leading cause of death in children worldwide, pneumonia kills an estimated 1.4 million children under the age of five every year - more than AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined. Now, a team of scientists at the University of Melbourne, Australia has created “StethoCloud”, a cloud-based app for smartphones that can help diagnose conditions like pneumonia without the need for a doctor.

The StethoCloud app guides the user through the proper method for listening to a patient’s breathing when the “stethomic” attachment – a small microphone that plugs into the smartphone’s audio input – is placed on the patient's body. When the app has recorded enough information, the phone transmits it to a server to filter out noise and analyze the data. Once the server has examined this information, the results are sent back to the phone with recommendations for treatment.

Source: gizmag.comAdded: 10 September 2012