COVID-19: Researchers in Abu Dhabi launch app to detect 'high risk' category

A team of researchers at Khalifa University of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi, has launched an app to collect data from smartphone users to identify if they are in the COVID-19 ‘high risk’ category.

The app named is called "CovidSense" and will target all mobile phone users.

It will also help people in quarantine to monitor their symptoms and location, while assisting with their health control measures.

The app will record metadata and self-reported status data, along with breathing sounds or coughs, heart rate, and GPS location in addition to details about who the user has interacted with.

At the same time, it will allow researchers to form ‘Deep Learning’ models in order to create a "reliable predictive high-risk index" in a future version.

This update will help to minimise the spread of the virus by alerting and helping healthcare workers to act at the correct time.

The app's development is being led by Dr Leontios Hadjileontiadis, Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Acting Chair, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Khalifa University, along with Dr Herbert F. Jelinek, Associate Professor, Dr Ahsan Khandoker, Associate Professor, and Dr Kinda Khalaf, Associate Professor and Associate Chair, Department of Biomedical Engineering.

Khalifa University is also collaborating with the research Lab, Signal Processing and Biomedical Technology Unit, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece.