Researchers at Cambridge University in the UK are trialling an artificial intelligence system that they think could spot the signs of dementia after a single brain scan. The team – led by Prof Zoe Kourtzi of the university and Alan Turing Institute – told the BBC that the AI could make it possible to start treatment earlier to slow down progression of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. The technology could be used to spot patients who are likely to have a slow decline in cognition and memory, and those that could have more rapid progression. At the moment, it can take several brain scans and a battery of other cognitive tests to diagnose dementia, a process that can take between four and 12 weeks depending on waiting lists, according to the Alzheimer's Society. The AI has been trained using thousands of brain scans from patients with dementia patients, and uses an algorithm to identify patterns that even expert neurologists cannot see, according to the BBC report.

Researchers behind an AI app that detects coronavirus in your voice have asked for volunteers to help by uploading audio of them coughing, breathing, and talking. Scientists from Cambridge University will use the data to develop machine learning algorithms that analyze a voice for symptoms of COVID-19. The COVID-19 Sounds App joins a growing list of tools using voice analysis to diagnose the coronavirus. The method remains unproven, but the team believes the sounds made by COVD-19 patients are so specific that they can reveal who has the disease. "Having spoken to doctors, one of the most common things they have noticed about patients with the virus is the way they catch their breath when they're speaking, as well as a dry cough, and the intervals of their breathing patterns," said Cambridge University Professor Cecilia Mascolo, who led the development of the app.