Proud of how cultures unite
ATEENAGER is trying to develop an app that will detect the coronavirus using your smartphone. Michael Bryan, 18, is working to create an app that could help triage cases of Covid-19. “The app uses three pieces of information to diagnose and triage cases of Covid,” Michael said. “It takes a pre-existing conditions survey including medical conditions and geolocation data… combining those two factors with microphone recordings of coughs.
“Having spoken to clinicians in China, their primary services are so overwhelmed, they’re using the cough as the main diagnostics tool. I thought why not create an app which creates diagnosis around that.
“The idea is, scan the cough, and the associating medical history, and compare it to a database of sufferers and non-sufferers’ coughs and medical histories to create an app that can not only tell you the likelihood of you having Covid-19, but also what you should do about it. Whether you should be selfisolating, or going to hospital,” he said.
Michael believes it would not only solve the issue of shortages of tests available to the public but it would allow the collection of data across the country.
“We know so little about Covid,” he said. “One in five go to hospital and one in 25 still pass away. We have no idea about the long-term effects it could have.
“With pneumonia the increased risk of passing away as a result or having complications is very high within a year of diagnosis and I wonder whether it’s similar for Covid.
“So being able to create a longterm study could help predict and overcome, mitigate and treat some complications,” he said. “It’s open source, so as many scientists, epidemiologists, and members of the public who are curious to find answers can access this.”
But, one thing stands in the way of Michael rolling out the app. “We’re waiting on the data to plug into the app. I’ve been going into hospitals myself, trying to get data from sufferers. But it’s a very long process,” he said.
“We’re talking about four days to create the app once we have all the data we need. So for a week and a half, I’ve had this team ready, it’s just been the painstaking approach of collecting this data.”
This is not the first app Michael has made.
“My journey began when at eight I lost my dad to Parkinson’s. I wanted to find a cure, I realised however passionate and determined I was, I wasn’t going to find a cure overnight.” Instead, he began visiting care homes.
“I noticed as these people went to laugh or smile they looked like my dad, they could almost tell there was something wrong. I went to one elderly gentlemen and I said, ‘I don’t suppose you have Parkinson’s?’
“He said, ‘No, no I’m fine, I have a liver disease and a life of regret.’ But six months later I saw the man again and he told me he had Parkinson’s and asked me, ‘How did you know?’ I began to think, what if you can see Parkinson’s?”
This led to the development of Michael’s first app, which uses facial recognition technology available on smartphones to help try to diagnose and triage Parkinson’s.
■ Michael Bryan is an ambassador for the #Iwill campaign.
STAYING at home has certainly been difficult and definitely an unprecedented experience.
I am overwhelmingly missing the outdoors.
Although, when I do go out, it feels strange and odd. Being locked down in the same environment means outings are not as exciting as they once were.
But I have engaged in broader activities. Praying more regularly and practising yoga are examples of how I am managing my emotions during this time.
Our optimistic response has made me so proud. I love the way people from different walks of life and cultures are uniting – not just in Britain, but across the globe!
In my community, I’ve seen so many rainbows representing peace and gratitude for our most prized asset, the NHS. The claps and banging in front of homes every week are encouraging community spirit and hope.