Brisbane, Australia-based ResApp Health enrolled its first patient in a prospective study on diagnosing respiratory diseases in children across the United States, the digital health company announced Jan. 8.
ResApp Health researchers will evaluate whether the company's ResAppDx smartphone app successfully diagnoses children with respiratory diseases such as asthma, bronchiolitis and pneumonia. The company, in collaboration with three healthcare sites in the U.S., plans to enroll up to 1,667 patients with symptoms of respiratory disease under 12 years of age for the study.
ResApp Health's investigational app, which is not sold in the U.S., uses machine learning algorithms to diagnose respiratory diseases based on the sound of a patient's cough. Researchers at Brisbane-based University of Queensland developed the algorithms with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The app's success in the U.S. study will be based on whether its recommendations agree with diagnoses made by an independent clinical committee. While the app solely determines its diagnoses using the sound of a patient's cough, the committee will consider all relevant patient information, including radiology and microbiology data.
"We are excited to begin the study and take this important next step towards the commercialization of ResAppDx in the United States," said Tony Keating, PhD, CEO and managing director of ResApp.