According to WHO reports, one of the major causes of death in children worldwide, is pneumonia. It is estimated that the disease kills an up to 1.4 million children under the age of five every year.

This is more than AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined. But since technology has been found to solve major issues around the world, a team of scientists at the University of Melbourne, Australia decided to take a foray into technological world and the result is the creation of StethoCloud, a cloud-based app for smartphones that can help diagnose conditions like pneumonia without the need for a doctor.

The StethoCloud app guides the user through the proper method for listening to a patient’s breathing when the “stethomic” attachment, a small microphone that plugs into the smartphone’s audio input, is placed on the patient’s body. When the app has recorded enough information, the phone transmits it to a server to filter out noise and analyze the data. Once the server has examined this information, the results are sent back to the phone with recommendations for treatment.

Many of the deaths from pneumonia come from developing countries like Nigeria, where stethoscopes and the medical professionals needed to accurately diagnose the disease are in short supply. Pneumonia-related symptoms often present as indications of other less harmful conditions, discouraging people from seeking immediate help. In most cases, by the time pneumonia is diagnosed these symptoms have often reached a life-threatening stage.

Portable Doctor Since this device can eliminate the geographical problems associated with people receiving medical help, it can essentially be described as a portable doctor.

The stethomic attachment is expected to cost only around US$20, which is far cheaper than digital stethoscopes on the market.

According to the StethoCloud website “It is now possible for people in the developing world to make their own devices based on our design. A local technician with access to sufficient training and the right materials can produce our digital stethoscopes thereby empowering communities to be self-reliant.”

Team StethoCloud, the group of young doctors and computer science majors that created the application and stethoscope attachment, first came to lime light in the 2012 Microsoft Imagine Cup technology competition.

The team said they were currently working with the Royal Children’s Hospital in Australia to develop research protocols for field-testing.

The stethomic attachments have already been shipped to hospitals in Ghana, Malaysia and Mozambique.