App checks your voice for symptoms of coronavirus and other respiratory conditions – just say ‘ahh’

Sonde Health is among a class of apps using voice analysis technology to look for biomarkers of respiratory illness and check mental health and emotional states

Its technology combines acoustic research and big data with a knowledge of the physical mechanics of voice production

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Symptoms of a disease like flu, or Covid-19 or asthma have an impact on the sound of your voice. Sonde Health has made an app to identify symptoms of respiratory illness by listening to you. Photo: Sonde Health

Published: 5:45pm, 7 May 2021Updated: 5:20pm, 8 May 2021

If you’ve ever told a friend that they don’t sound very well and should visit a doctor, you’ll get the idea behind Sonde Health’s apps.

The company’s technology analyses a voice sample collected via a smartphone to assess whether the user has symptoms of respiratory illness. An app to assess mental health conditions such as depression is coming soon.

Sonde Health was founded before the Covid-19 pandemic broke, and its respiratory illness app was designed to search for symptoms of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) – but it is also able to recognise the symptoms of coronavirus.

Sonde Health’s apps are part of a burgeoning field of voice analysis technology which focuses on finding biomarkers for respiratory health, mental health and emotional states.

When we are ill, parts of our bodies malfunction, or perform differently, and changes in the sound of our voice occur as a result. Photo: Shutterstock

The company’s US-based chief executive, David Liu, says the technology does not provide a medical diagnosis, as it is not authorised to do so by United States regulator the Federal Drug Administration. Sonde Health sits in the wellness sector as a preventive care technology which identifies symptoms of diseases and provides the user with data to take further action.