With Barda Backing, Raisonance Hopes To Prove Coughs Can Show Covid-19/flu Status

RAIsonance, a machine learning firm, has secured a $749,000 contract from the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to develop and test its AudibleHealth AI subsidiary’s AudibleHealth Dx software. The software is designed to detect influenza, COVID-19, or neither by the sound of a person’s cough recorded on a smartphone. The firm conducted a validation study for the software last summer and will use the BARDA money for continued research that could support a submission for US Food and Drug Administration clearance. The tests will cost about $10 each and the firm plans to collect additional cough samples from people with confirmed COVID-19 or influenza infections to further train the machine learning model.