Under the licensing deal, Therma Bright can develop the Digital Cough Test for other respiratory conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, bronchiolitis, pneumonia, and asthma
The Digital Cough Test app records the cough when prompted by the user on the smartphone. (Credit: Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash)
Therma Bright has signed a letter of intent (LOI) with US-based AI4LYF to acquire the exclusive licensing rights for the latter’s Digital Cough Test (DCT), a digital cough-based diagnosis screening technology.
The Canadian medical technology company said that artificial intelligence (AI)-based Digital Cough Test can detect multiple respiratory diseases almost instantly, including Covid-19, from a smartphone app, irrespective of the place and time.
According to Therma Bright, the diagnosis screening technology breaks down the cough sounds into hundreds of elements digitally followed by an AI analysis. The proprietary AI of AI4LYF examines the cough characteristics to find the subtle and unusual signatures of specific respiratory diseases.
Under the licensing deal, Therma Bright can develop the Digital Cough Test for other respiratory conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonia, bronchiolitis, and asthma.
When prompted by the user, the associated app of the digital test records the cough on the smartphone. Following that, the app is claimed to generate a Covid-19 test result in less than a minute with an accuracy rate of more than 94%.
Therma Bright said that the tool, whose results are comparable to the available PCR Covid testing methods, will be added to its existing smart-enabled diagnostic tool in the marketplace.
Additionally, the Digital Cough Test will expand Therma Bright’s ability of detecting other respiratory diseases with a quicker, less expensive regulatory path and approval process.
Therma Bright CEO Rob Fia said: “We are pleased to partner with AI4LYF on this exciting new patented technology to detect respiratory disease. The market for DCT has been validated by Pfizer’s recent acquisition of ResApp Health out of Australia for USD $179M.
“While we continue to pursue our regulatory approvals for AcuVid there are several advantages to DCT including: less costly development, a faster regulatory path, and instant accurate results.
“The FDA has encouraged the development of digital tests to deal with COVID-19 and potential future respiratory diseases.”
The medical technology firm will start a clinical trial of the Digital Cough Test for Covid-19 diagnosis, starting in mid-January 2023.