A team of researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru has developed a COVID-19 diagnostic tool that can detect the virus within minutes. Coswara, a sound-based Covid-19 diagnostic tool developed by the Indian Institute of Science is based on respiratory, cough, and speech sounds. As per a report in The Hindu, users can record their voices using a smartphone, tablet, or computer on Coswara’s website. The tool will show the probability score once the data has been uploaded (whether Covid-19 positive or not). The probability score has range from 0 to 1.
According to Sriram Ganapathy, an associate professor in the Electrical Engineering Learning and Extraction of Acoustic Patterns department at IISc, participants can use their personal smartphones to connect to the website and verify their Covid-19 probability score. Basic demographic, symptom, and Covid-19-related information is requested on the Coswara website. Additionally, the patient's voice, breathing, and coughing are recorded. “The participant is taken to a disclaimer page after the data has been successfully submitted (an activity that takes about 5 minutes). The tool will show the probability score if the user accepts our terms and conditions. Any score above the 0.5 mark indicates a higher chance of being Covid-19 positive. The entire score computation is completed within one minute of data upload, yielding a fast and reliable tool. Further, the tool is offered free of charge to the users,” Sriram told the Hindu.
According to the Coswara website, machine learning and signal processing will be used to analyse the gathered data. It goes on to say that the objective is to create mathematical models that make it easier to recognise "infection prints" from voice samples. However, they are still working on this stage as they build a dataset.
According to the Coswara team's internal assessment, the prediction rate is greater than 90%. To get the tool approved, the team plans to conduct additional clinical trials. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) have not yet approved the tool. However, data was gathered ethically, and IISc approved the research. Knowing what they would be used for, the hospitals provided the project team with the necessary data, The Hindu report.
The website clarifies that the tool will not replace the chemical testing or the imaging methods but merely supplement the existing testing methods with a cost-effective, fast and simple technique.