Smartphone App Could Revolutionize Strep Throat Diagnosis
Therese Canares, a pediatric emergency physician, envisioned a world where families wouldn’t have to make unnecessary trips to the doctor for common ailments like strep throat. This vision led her to co-develop CurieDx, a smartphone app leveraging artificial intelligence to screen for strep throat using images, potentially saving time and resources for families and healthcare providers.
Strep throat, a bacterial infection responsible for millions of doctor visits annually, often leads to diagnoses that prove unnecessary. While working on her MBA at Carey Business School, Canares collaborated with Mathias Unberath, a computer science professor in the Whiting School of Engineering, to explore the use of AI in healthcare. They recognized the untapped potential of smartphones and computer vision to analyze visual cues, leading to the development of CurieDx.
Filling the Gap in Telehealth
“When telehealth started booming during the pandemic, we saw it was missing one crucial element: a quick and reliable point-of-care test,” Canares explains. “CurieDx fills that gap, providing families with immediate information to guide their decisions.”
The app works by comparing a photo of a sore throat to a vast library of images analyzed by their AI model. This allows CurieDx to accurately identify the visual markers of strep throat, often with a higher accuracy than traditional visual assessments by doctors.
“Our early data showed that doctors were only 64% accurate in predicting strep throat solely by looking at the throat,” Canares notes. “CurieDx boasts a 94% sensitivity rate, making it highly reliable in identifying negative cases and giving families the confidence to stay home when appropriate.”
A Game Changer for Families
Canares sees CurieDx as a game changer for families, especially those with hectic schedules. “Imagine being able to check for strep throat from the comfort of your own home, potentially avoiding hours spent in waiting rooms or crowded doctor’s offices,” she says.
Canares highlights how CurieDx can empower families to make informed decisions about their health: “Think about a parent whose child just started kindergarten. They’re not sure if it’s a cold or strep, and CurieDx gives them immediate information to guide their next steps. It could truly change the course of their day.”
Challenges and Impact
Bringing CurieDx to market wasn’t without its challenges. “Classic startup struggles with funding, especially for software aimed at medical devices, proved to be a hurdle,” Canares admits. “Research and development costs are significant, meaning we need more investment compared to other B2B software products.”
Data collection also posed a challenge. Canares and her team needed to partner with clinical partners to gather diverse images of throats to train their AI effectively. Additionally, attracting talent to a startup with a potentially high impact but uncertain future was another obstacle.
Despite these hurdles, Canares remains optimistic about CurieDx’s potential. “The feedback from pilot testers and families has been overwhelmingly positive. We’ve heard things like, ‘This would be a complete game changer’ and ‘I could avoid waiting days to get my family member seen.’ The impact this app could have on people’s lives is truly remarkable.”
Looking Ahead
Currently, CurieDx is available to physicians and urgent care centers that offer telehealth, but Canares’ ultimate goal is to make it
What inspired Dr. Therese Canares to develop CurieDx?
## Interview with Dr. Therese Canares on CurieDx
**Interviewer:** Welcome, Dr. Canares. Your work with CurieDx seems to be groundbreaking. Could you tell us a little about the idea behind this app?
**Dr. Canares:** Absolutely. As a pediatric emergency physician, I see countless cases of strep throat, many of which turn out to be unnecessary trips to the doctor. I wanted to find a way to help families make more informed decisions about seeking care. That’s how the idea for CurieDx was born.
**Interviewer:** So, CurieDx uses a smartphone camera to diagnose strep throat?
**Dr. Canares:** Exactly! The app uses artificial intelligence to analyze a photo of a sore throat. We’ve trained our AI model on a vast library of images, allowing it to accurately identify the visual indicators of strep throat.
**Interviewer:** That’s fascinating. How does CurieDx compare to traditional methods of diagnosis?
**Dr. Canares:** Surprisingly, our research showed that doctors are only about 64% accurate in diagnosing strep throat simply by looking at a patient’s throat. CurieDx, on the other hand, has a 94% sensitivity rate, meaning it’s much more reliable at identifying negative cases and sparing families unnecessary trips to the doctor [[1](https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10714660)].
**Interviewer:** That’s a significant difference. What impact do you think CurieDx could have on healthcare?
**Dr. Canares:** I believe CurieDx has the potential to revolutionize how we approach strep throat diagnosis. It empowers families to make informed decisions about their health, saves time and resources for both families and healthcare providers, and fills a crucial gap in telehealth services.
**Interviewer: ** Dr. Canares, thank you for sharing your insights on CurieDx. It sounds like a truly innovative solution that could benefit many.
