Greg Corrado, head of artificial intelligence for health at tech giant Alphabet Inc’s Google, said the company is running tests to see if the smartphone’s built-in microphone can read heartbeats and murmurs when placed on the chest. He said the readings could enable early detection of heart valve disorders.
“It is not going to be an accurate medical diagnosis, but it does let us know if there is an increased risk,” Corrado said.
Eye research focuses on detecting diseases, including those related to diabetes, from images. Google said it had recorded “promising early results” using professional cameras in clinics and would now look to see if smartphone images could be used as well.
And last year, Google announced a technology that allows measuring heart rate and breathing using smart phone cameras, a feature that is now available on many devices through the Google Fit application.
