A new smartphone app that claims it can test for Covid-19 with 92% accuracy by coughing into the phone.
ResApp, which was developed by scientists, uses machine learning to analyse the sounds of a cough.
While in the testing phase, the app was found to have correctly detected Covid-19 in 92% of people with the infection.
Professor Catherine Bennett, a member of ResApp's Covid-19 Scientific Advisory Board, said: "The sheer scale of this global pandemic and the likely evolution to an endemic disease means we need more scalable diagnostic tools that can balance our current over-reliance on rapid antigen and PCR tests.
"By rapidly ruling out Covid-19, ResApp's COVID-19 test would significantly reduce the number of rapid antigen and PCR tests required, while still maintaining the disease surveillance needed to manage the continued impact of Covid-19."
The developer tested the app by enrolling it on 741 patients in India and the US - including 446 with Covid-19.
The participants completed surveys on the symptoms they were experiencing and coughed into a smartphone that had the app on it.
The results showed the app was able to correctly detect Covid in 92% of people with the virus.
Lateral flow tests can detect around 72% of symptomatic cases and 58% asymptomatic ones.
Researchers further tested the app to see if it would detect Covid-18 specifically by testing it against coughs from 1,007 patients who were suffering from other respiratory conditions, including asthma, pneumonia and respiratory tract infections.
These tests revealed the app detected Covid-19 with 90% specificity.
Developers say will be used at first in settings where frequent Covid-19 testing is required, which includes travel, sports, entertainment, and healthcare settings.
It comes as Pfizer has offered to acquire ResApp for £0.088 per share in cash, representing a total equity value of approximately £57.14million.
Tony Keating, CEO and Managing Director of ResApp added: "We are very excited about these preliminary results for detecting Covid-19 using cough audio recorded on a smartphone.
"These algorithms offer a unique opportunity to provide a rule out screening test for Covid-19 at scale across the world, reducing the distribution challenge, the cost and the environmental impact of rapid antigen and PCR testing."
