Service provider Cloudsoft is aiding the UK Government to implement new AI Covid tests that can accurately detect the virus using voice data.

The ‘Cough-In-A-Box’ application uses AI tech to diagnose Covid-19 through audio recordings of a user coughing directly into their smartphone’s microphone.

Analysing more than 70,000 recordings submitted by volunteers, which included around 2,500 confirmed Covid-19 cases, researchers from MIT were able to train the AI model to correctly identify 98.5% of positive cases, including 100% of asymptomatic cases.

Additionally, it has helped the government to meet data processing and security demands due to the need to anonymise personal voice data, then combine it with participant’s medical history and PCR test data from England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales.

Commenting on the news, Cloudsoft CEO Ross Gray, said: “This is transformational technology for the greater human good and we’re proud to at the forefront of technological innovation to contribute to overcoming Covid-19.

“With so many applications in the real world, this technology could be a game-changer for so many sectors – including travel and hospitality, providing the current trials continue to show the same level of effectiveness as the initial MIT study.”

Since December 2020, a team of Cloudsoft engineers have been working with specialists from Fujitsu, Formwize and the DHSC to convert the application to the cloud which has allowed the UK Government to rapidly scale the application for 40,000 further trials.

By utilising a combination of Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure cloud platforms, the application benefits from increased resilience and reliability, which are key requirements for the future use of the project as the UK Government expands its ongoing trials.

Aled Sage, Vice President of Engineering at Cloudsoft said: “The high-profile nature of the project means that reliability, scalability and security are key requirements, and the cloud has enabled us to realise all of these.

“At the same time, we have been very conscious of the sensitive information and data that the application processes, which is why a combined cloud approach has been integral to ensure continuous resilience and reliability.

“It has been a fantastic project to be involved on from a technical perspective and not only demonstrates the power of collaboration between companies, but also the enormous potential of the cloud to power innovations that can make the world a better place and solve global challenges.”

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In October 2020, researchers at MIT revealed that they had successfully detected cases of Covid-19 in asymptomatic individuals simply by processing recordings of an individual’s cough.

The researcher’s discovery opened the possibility of identifying potential coronavirus cases through an individual’s mobile phone without the need for immediate testing.

Following the successful completion of the project by Fujitsu, Formwize and Cloudsoft, the UK Joint Biosecurity Centre is now working with the Alan Turing Institute to assess the wider feasibility of the application, with the initial trial being expanded to include those taking part in the REACT1 Covid-19 prevalence survey.

David Cairns, Head of Innovation at Fujitsu, said: “This is exactly the sort of project that is only possible in the cloud.

“We relied on Cloudsoft’s expertise to co-architect the application to be cloud-native, ensuring that it could meet the demands of scale, reliability and security.

“This cutting-edge approach to Covid-19 detection has huge potential and is a perfect example of innovating for the human good.”