The Watch
LATITUDE
A HEARING AID OF A DIFFERENT KIND
The app plays a series of soft chirps into a child’s ear, via a small paper funnel. How the sounds reverberate from the ear drum back to the microphone determines the likelihood of fluid to an accuracy of 85 per cent—making the app as effective as some methods used by doctors. EAR YOU GO Dr. Randall Bly, an assistant professor at the University’s School of Medicine who practises at Seattle Children’s Hospital, uses a new app to check his daughter’s ear. -photo by Dennis Wise/University of Washington
While parents curse their kids’ selective hearing, sometimes there’s a medically valid reason they aren't listening. Earaches are common in young children, because their small eustachian tubes are prone to blockages from infection-causing fluids. It’s hard for parents to know when to take their kiddos to the doctor. Earache symptoms can mimic normal cold symptoms. And, of course, very young children don’t have their words yet. Researchers at the University of Washington have developed an aid for parents facing this challenge. And guess what? Your smartphone is involved. The app the team has developed can actually predict the likelihood of a child having fluid behind her eardrum and, thus, the likelihood of an earache.
44 | PEG SUMMER 2019
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