Researchers from UmeåUniversity in Sweden have developed a software system that analyzes pictures of the eardrum taken with a digital otoscope and compares their features to those of archived images to make a diagnosis. The research is published in EBioMedicine.
“Because of lack of health personnel in many developing countries, ear infections are often misdiagnosed or not diagnosed at all,” Claude Laurent, a researcher at the at Umeå University and co-author of the paper, said in a statement. “This may lead to hearing impairments, and even to life-threatening complications.… Using this method, health personnel can diagnose middle ear infections with the same accuracy as general practitioners and pediatricians.”
The diagnoses automatically made using the mobile digital otoscope and cloud software were similarly accurate to diagnoses made by physicians using traditional devices in clinical settings.
The authors conclude that the system would be effective for improving diagnoses of ear infections in developing countries at low-cost.
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