AI-based tool that can detect Covid from cough sound

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Mohali, May 12

A novel online tool based on artificial intelligence (AI) that can detect the Covid-19 infection in an individual by analysing the sound of coughing has been developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) in Mohali.

The tool, christened Vaani Mitr, only requires people to submit a brief recording of coughing through a mobile phone or a laptop, which is then processed to determine their status in real time. It can be used by anyone at anytime from anywhere.

A large data base is fundamental for AI tools to be effective. For the purpose, a data bank for coughing sounds of both Covid positive as well as Covid negative persons is being built by C-DAC, against which the samples are compared.

“Covid primarily affects the respiratory system, which in turn causes subtle changes in the sounds produced during respiration, coughing or speaking,” Dr PK Khosla, Executive Director, C-DAC, said. “The acoustic signature of Covid-positive individuals shows some particular characteristics that can be identified and tracked,” he added.

The indigenously developed automated AI system analyses the acoustic signatures to detect the possibility of the Covid-19 infection in a human.

So far, C-DAC’s data base for Vaani Mitr comprises over a thousand recordings from Covid negative persons and over 300 recordings from Covid positive persons. The data base has been built with assistance from the Nation Health Mission, Haryana, and the University of Cambridge, UK.

“We have to build our data base further. Larger the data base, more accurate the test will be.” Dr Khosla said. As of now, the tool is being looked at as a means of preliminary screening for suspected cases while sitting at home rather than a clinical diagnosis.

C-DAC, which functions under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, is looking for volunteers who are either Covid positive or have been cured to provide their voice and cough samples to build its data base. This can be done online along with providing some basic medical details.

The use of the AI in the healthcare sector, including areas such as hospital information, drug management, tele-medicine mobile healthcare and decision support, is among the niche areas C-DAC is working on. eSanjeevani, a nationwide tele-consultation service developed by it during the lockdown period last year, had won the Digital India Award-2020 in the category of “Innovation in Pandemic”.

How C-DAC’s Vaani Mitr works

The tool, christened Vaani Mitr, developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) in Mohali, only requires people to submit a brief recording of coughing through a mobile phone or a laptop, which is then processed to determine their status in real time. It can be used by anyone at anytime from anywhere.