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ResApp Health Ltd app detects respiratory disease through a smart phone

Published: 05:00 16 Jun 2016 BST

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ResApp Health Ltd (ASX:RAP) has expanded its clinical trial of its diagnostic respiratory illness app for adults at the Joondalup Health Campus in Perth after promising results from a paediatric clinical study at Princess Margaret Hospital.

ResApp’s smartphone app works by using algorithms to analyse the sound of a patient’s cough and providing a diagnosis.

The company has an exclusive worldwide license to machine learning technology developed by A/Prof Abeyratne at The University of Queensland. It uses signatures in coughing and breathing sounds to diagnose disease.

Almost incredibly, this can use microphones in today’s smartphones with no additional hardware required for the exercise.

The adult trial has enrolled 322 patients in its first adult study. The aim of the adult study is to demonstrate that ResApp’s technology, shown to be highly accurate for the diagnosis of childhood respiratory conditions, can be extended to adults.

The trial for children highlighted the accuracy of its diagnostic algorithms in identifying lower respiratory tract diseases such as pneumonia and bronchitis.

Initial development at UQ was funded by The Gates Foundation on to reduce the 1 million child deaths per annum  due to pneumonia in the developing world.

Patent applications have been filed in US, Australia, Europe, China, Japan and South Korea.

The company had completed an oversubscribed $12.5 million capital raising in April at $0.02 per share, finding support from new and existing institutional and sophisticated investors.

For investors that participated in the raising, it has been a profitable exercise to date, with the share price almost doubling since the April placement.

The funds will be used to expedite U.S. FDA approval for the adult diagnostic test and expand U.S. market opportunity beyond telehealth into in-clinic use.

It was found that ResApp’s algorithms were able to correctly detect lower respiratory tract disease in 97% of patients who were initially diagnosed as clear by experienced clinicians using stethoscopes.

Respiratory diseases present a big market opportunity, with over 700 million doctor visits per annum globally and US$ 10.5 billion in annual U.S. hospital costs for pneumonia.

 

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