Can your smartphone make a COVID-19 diagnosis based on your cough?

The saying “there’s an app for that” is becoming more and more applicable by the day. There’s now a smartphone app available in the U.S. that can make diagnoses based on the sound of a cough.

The app, called Hyfe, can track a user’s coughing habits over time, allowing it to provide early warnings of potential underlying issues. The system can identify certain respiratory issues such as COVID-19 in the early stages, and may even be viable for detecting early signs of lung cancer. It does this by analyzing the user’s coughs with acoustic artificial intelligence algorithms. It identifies and tracks aspects including volume and regularity in order to identify patterns.

Hyfe is currently available for Android and iOS operating systems in the U.S. “Coughing is a universal human behavior that can reveal a huge amount about a person’s wellbeing,” said Hyfe Co-founder Iulian Circo. “Our neural network can help users identify changes in their health in real time. Our goal is to allow anyone with a smartphone to receive instant, accurate diagnostic support.”