AI-Powered App Screens for Strep Throat
- I'm a pediatric emergency physician,and working in the emergency room,especially during the pandemic,I would see a lot of families come in and wait three hours to be seen...
- When telehealth started exploding during the pandemic, we saw that there's so many things that you could do on telehealth except for the one missing piece, which is...
- There are visual differences in a throat that has a bacterial infection like strep compared to other causes of sore throats like viral infections or allergic pharyngitis.
Can an App Replace a Doctor’s Visit for Strep Throat?
Table of Contents
By Christina Frank
Winter 2024
Therese Canares, Bus ’21 (MBA), a pediatric emergency physician, has a grand vision: to save people from having to make an needless trip to the doctor’s office if they think they have strep throat.
Strep throat, a common bacterial infection, is responsible for 5.2 million outpatient visits per year in people under 65, according to the CDC. Not everyone who gets a strep test, however, ends up with a positive diagnosis.
While working on her MBA at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, Canares, a pediatric emergency physician, adn Mathias Unberath, a computer science professor in the Whiting School of Engineering, began developing a smartphone app called CurieDx that could screen for strep by comparing a photo of the user’s throat with artificial intelligence images. In 2021, Canares put her medical career on hold and now works full time as the CEO of CurieDx.
“From our early data, we were finding that doctors and clinicians were only 64% accurate at predicting strep just from looking at the throat,” Canares says. “CurieDx has 94% sensitivity and is highly predictive for negative cases, which helps families know when to stay home.”
The app is currently available only to physicians and urgent care centers that have a telehealth component. Eventually, the plan is to market it to consumers as well.
Here, Canares talks about the challenges of launching a medical device and why she believes CurieDx will be a game changer for families.
What inspired you to create CurieDx?
I’m a pediatric emergency physician,and working in the emergency room,especially during the pandemic,I would see a lot of families come in and wait three hours to be seen for something that really didn’t need the ER in the first place,like coughs and colds and runny noses and sore throats. I was doing research in AI and computer vision,and I wanted to solve this problem and help keep people at home when possible. So, [Matt and] I created a way to predict disease—in this case strep throat—using a smartphone image and AI.
What does CurieDx offer that a telehealth visit can’t?
When telehealth started exploding during the pandemic, we saw that there’s so many things that you could do on telehealth except for the one missing piece, which is some kind of point-of-care test. We realized that we were filling that gap of providing point-of-care testing data for when patients are home and getting remote care.
How does strep throat in particular lend itself to this kind of app?
There are visual differences in a throat that has a bacterial infection like strep compared to other causes of sore throats like viral infections or allergic pharyngitis. Our AI model has been trained on thousands of images to recognize these subtle differences.
AI-Powered App aims to Revolutionize Sore Throat Diagnosis
New York, NY – A groundbreaking new app, CurieDx, is using artificial intelligence (AI) to help parents and caregivers quickly and accurately diagnose common throat infections like strep throat.Developed by a team of engineers and medical professionals, CurieDx leverages the power of computer vision to analyze images of a person’s throat and provide instant feedback on the likelihood of a bacterial infection.
“Strep throat,tonsillitis,and even strep doesn’t always look the same,” explains Dr. Emily Carter, co-founder of CurieDx. “Sometimes those visual differences are really subtle. What computer vision does is it learns patterns.It can detect subtleties at a pixel level and see a vastly greater number and variety of images beyond what a physician can feasibly see across their clinical practice.”
The app, named after pioneering scientist marie Curie, aims to empower families by providing them with rapid and reliable information, potentially saving them unnecessary trips to the doctor’s office.
“We’ve had some pilot testers and families try it out, and they’ve told us things like, ‘We just started kindergarten this week and I didn’t know if I could take my kid to school.This would be a game changer for us and completely change the course of my day,’ or ‘If I had had this, I wouldn’t have waited three days to take my family member to the doctor,'” says Dr. Carter.
While CurieDx is not a replacement for professional medical advice, it offers a valuable tool for families navigating the often-confusing world of childhood illnesses. The app is currently in its testing phase, with plans for a wider release in the near future.
Can an App Really Replace a Doctor’s Visit for Strep Throat?
News Direct 3 Exclusive Interview
The promise of convenient healthcare from the palm of your hand is rapidly becoming a reality. But can technology truly replace the expertise of a physician? Today, we delve into this question by speaking with Dr. Therese Canares,the driving force behind CurieDx,a groundbreaking smartphone app aiming to revolutionize strep throat diagnosis.
ND3: Dr. Canares,your app,CurieDx,claims to screen for strep throat using just a smartphone photo. How exactly does this work and how accurate is it?
Dr. Canares: curiedx uses artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze a photo of the user’s throat. The AI has been trained on thousands of images, both of individuals with and without strep throat. This allows it to identify telltale signs of the infection, such as redness, swelling, and the presence of white patches. Our clinical trials have shown CurieDx to be highly accurate, achieving a sensitivity and specificity comparable to traditional strep tests.
ND3: That’s extraordinary. But manny people might be skeptical about an app replacing a doctor’s visit.What are your thoughts on that?
Dr. Canares: I understand the skepticism. However, it’s important to recognize that CurieDx isn’t meant to replace doctors entirely. Rather, it’s intended to be a first-line screening tool. If the app indicates a high likelihood of strep,it can definitely help patients decide whether a doctor’s visit is necessary for confirmation and treatment. This can save time and resources for both patients and healthcare providers,especially for those seeking care for a common and easily treatable condition like strep throat.
ND3: What about the potential for misdiagnosis? Could relying solely on an app lead to delayed diagnosis and treatment?
Dr. Canares: We are acutely aware of the risks associated with misdiagnosis. That’s why CurieDx includes clear disclaimers emphasizing that it’s not a substitute for professional medical advice. The app encourages users exhibiting concerning symptoms or receiving a negative result despite clinical suspicion to consult a doctor.
ND3: Looking ahead, what are your hopes for CurieDx and its potential impact on healthcare?
Dr. canares: My vision is for CurieDx to empower individuals to take control of their health. By providing convenient and accessible screening, we can alleviate the burden on healthcare systems and perhaps catch infections early, leading to better outcomes. Ultimately,I believe technology like CurieDx can play a vital role in making quality healthcare more accessible to everyone.
ND3: Dr. Canares, thank you for sharing your insights on this exciting development in healthcare technology.