Testing SpiroSmart

Over the years we’ve seen a few smartphone applications for measuring lung function as a spirometer does. But in many places, especially in the developing world, people commonly have old fashioned mobile phones, rather than smartphones. So, computer and electrical engineers at the University of Washington created algorithms that translate a person’s trachea sounds and vocal tract into a digital measurement of lung function. Depending on whether the caller is using an old mobile phone or a land line, between five and six percent accuracy is lost compared to a spirometer, but that’s within the industry’s standard 10% margin of error. Such a “spiro call,” from anywhere in the world, is a 1-800……..number. MORE

Image Credit: University of Washington and GizMag.com