Frequently Asked Questions

Swaasa® artificial intelligence platform (Swaasa® AI Platform) is Software as a Medical Device for screening and diagnostic aid in the assessment of respiratory diseases or conditions.

The Swaasa AI platform is a cloud-based and non-invasive device intended to acquire, analyze, and store cough sounds along with symptoms. The device provides an informational report that is intended to be reviewed by a licensed healthcare professional as a screening tool and diagnostic aid in the assessment of respiratory conditions. 

The device is designed for use on adults (18 years and above) in hospitals, physician’s offices, laboratories, medical camps, and occupational health environments. The device can also be used for self-assessments with the direction of healthcare professionals. 

Swaasa AI platform can also be integrated into other medical devices.

The device provides an output which is functionally equivalent to a Spirometer. It outputs:   

  1. Respiratory disease pattern and its severity
  2. Spirometry values of FEV1, FVC and FEV1/FVC values

 

In addition the device also detects: 

  1. Presence of underlying respiratory problem (Normal vs Abnormal)
  2. Presence of disease conditions for Asthma and COPD.

Identification of pattern plays an important part in supporting diagnosis of respiratory conditions such as asthma, COPD etc.. There are four possible patterns of respiratory diseases: obstruction, restriction, mixed (obstruction and restriction) and normal.  

Obstructive pattern lung diseases are a group of conditions that make it difficult for a person to completely exhale the air from their lungs. On the other hand, people with restrictive pattern lung diseases experience difficulty in fully expanding their lungs to take in air. Whereas in mixed pattern lung diseases, the total amount of air breathed in and breathed out are reduced.

  1. Risk-No, Pattern-Normal, Severity-Normal, Summary-“Symptoms indicate there is no problem. If symptoms worsen please do visit Doctor.”
  2. Risk-Yes, Pattern-Normal, Severity-Low/Medium/High, Summary-“Symptoms indicate you are likely having Upper respiratory tract infection. If symptoms worsen please do visit Doctor.”
  3. Risk-Yes, Pattern-Obstructive, Severity-Low/Medium/High, Summary-“Symptoms indicate you are likely experiencing obstruction in the airways. Please do visit Doctor.”
  4. Risk-Yes, Pattern-Restrcitve, Severity-Low/Medium/High, Summary-“Symptoms indicate you are likely experiencing problem related to lung expansion. Please do visit Doctor.”
  5. Risk-Yes, Pattern-Mixed, Severity-Low/Medium/High, Summary-“Symptoms indicate you are likely experiencing both obstruction in the airways and problem related to lung expansion. Please do visit Doctor.”
Obstructive lung diseases are a group of lung diseases that are caused due to obstruction of airways leading to difficulty in breathing. Obstructive lung disease includes conditions that decrease a person’s ability to exhale all the air from their lungs.

Restrictive lung diseases are a group of lung diseases that restrict lung expansion leading to decreased lung volume, increased difficulty in breathing and decreased  oxygenation.

Lung Health Index is derived based on a proprietary algorithm to calculate ranges based on underlying lung health problem and its severity. It takes into account the parameters like type of cough, pattern of cough and its severity, and cough count values.

Lung Health Index is grouped into low, medium and high as follows.

LowLungs are normal
Medium There is Some abnormality in the lungs. Please keep monitoring and see your doctor if the score persists.
HighPlease visit your doctor at the earliest.

A dry cough is a cough with no mucus or phlegm. It is mostly caused due to irritation or inflammation  in the respiratory tract. Most common cause of dry cough is upper respiratory  tract infections like common cold or flu.

Dry cough count helps to monitor  any increase/decrease in patients’ dry cough frequency.

A wet cough is a cough with mucus or phlegm. Mucus in the tract is pushed out of the body. Conditions causing wet cough are COPD, Asthma , Pneumonia etc. Wet cough count helps to monitor any increase/decrease in patients’ wet cough frequency.

Spirometry is a pulmonary function test that measures the amount and speed of air that a person can inhale and exhale. It is commonly used to assess lung function and diagnose respiratory conditions. Swaasa predicts the below key parameters based on cough characteristics.

  • Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second (FEV1): FEV1 is the volume of air forcefully exhaled in the first second of a forced breath after maximal inhalation. FEV1 is a crucial indicator of how well the lungs are functioning, particularly in terms of expelling air forcefully.

  • Forced Vital Capacity (FVC): FVC is the total volume of air that can be forcefully exhaled after maximal inhalation.FVC provides information about the overall lung capacity and the ability to expel air forcefully.

  • FEV1/FVC Ratio: The FEV1/FVC ratio represents the proportion of the vital capacity expelled in the first second of forced expiration. This ratio is a key parameter in assessing and classifying obstructive and restrictive lung diseases.

These spirometric parameters help healthcare professionals evaluate lung function and identify patterns indicative of various respiratory conditions, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, and restrictive lung diseases. The interpretation of spirometry results involves comparing the measured values to predicted values based on age, sex and height, providing insights into the patient’s respiratory health.

No. Currently, disease* likely detection is available only as an add-on and the customers must subscribe to this to avail. Please reach out to sales/support (support@salcit.in) for additional details. 

*Asthma / COPD / COVID-19 / Pulmonary TB.

Customers who are integrating to the Swaasa® AI platform can use enhanced APIs to to get 

  1. Likely presence of disease* (Yes/No/Inconclusive)
  2. Disease* risk (low/medium/high). 

Customers using the Swaasa® mobile application can see an updated dashboard with the following additional functionality. 

  1. Under the detections/predictions section, there is an entry for “Likely presence of Disease*”. This can have three possible outputs: Yes/No/Inconclusive
  2. Disease* risk (low/medium/high) in addition to LHI® (low/medium/high).

*Asthma / COPD / COVID-19 / Pulmonary TB.

Based on cough sound analysis and symptoms information disease*  likely value is yes when the device identifies that there is a possibility that the patient has disease*.  When the value is NO, the patient likely does not have the disease*. An inconclusive result indicates that the device cannot provide a definitive answer.

*Asthma / COPD / COVID-19 / Pulmonary TB.

The disease* risk is derived using a proprietary algorithm to calculate range (low/medium/high). This is based on the composite analysis of Disease* specific symptoms and cough sound characteristics.

*Asthma / COPD / COVID-19 / Pulmonary TB.

During data collection, the risk of disease transmission is minimal for non-communicable respiratory conditions like asthma and COPD. However, there is a potential risk for communicable respiratory diseases such as pulmonary tuberculosis.

To ensure safety during the process:

  • The healthcare professional should wear disposable gloves and a surgical mask.
  • The healthcare professional enrolls the patient in Swaasa and hands the phone to the patient for cough recording.
  • The patient must wear a surgical mask.
  • The patient records their cough, maintaining the recommended distance and mobile angle. Refer to Instructions for Cough Recording for detailed guidance.
  • After recording, the phone should be cleaned using alcohol wipes.For further details, refer to Instructions for Cleaning Phone.

Yes, follow these instructions.

The device is used as a screening tool and diagnostic aid in the assessment of respiratory conditions when used on adults (18 years of age and over) under the supervision of healthcare practitioners.

Patients in acute exacerbation/ severe breathlessness/ recent myocardial infarction or pulmonary embolism (within 4-6 weeks)/ recent eye or abdominal or brain surgery/ hospitalization due to any heart problem within the past month/ pregnant women are not recommended.

The cough sample given by a patient may be voluntary or involuntary. In other words the patient  does not have to be suffering from (symptomatic) cough for the product to be able to assess lung health.

  • Find a quiet place. Ensure while recording there is no background noise such as wind noise, fan and traffic.
  • Hold the phone with the microphone facing the subject / patient. Maintain a distance of 4-8 inches from the patient’s mouth.
  • Maintain a 90 degree angle with the face. 
  • Now you are ready to record the cough sounds.
    1.   Please cough multiple times.
    2.   Each time take a breath and cough.
    3.   Cough 3 to 4 times or until the recording stops.
  • Please feel free to wear a [surgical] mask.

Patient is only provided with a cough severity score. The detailed report is only accessible to the doctor. 

The device can also be used for self-assessment at home based on the doctor’s discretion to send an assessment link to the patient. Patients must follow instructions while capturing data and recording the cough.

Taking self assessment at home is for your own well being. Hence it is important that you follow the instructions carefully to get genuine results.

In the interest of your own health and the health of our family and colleagues, it is required that the cough sample recorded is your own cough and not any other person’s.

Keep in mind that the system’s usefulness and effectiveness is dependent on the data submitted and correct answers and your own (patients’) authentic cough samples is what will give the most benefit to you and your family members.

Swaasa® can be integrated with any existing health service platforms using Rest APIs.

Yes, Swaasa® has completed WHO defined clinical trials.

Swaasa® AI Platform is compliant with following regulations and standards.

Swaasa® AI Platform uses anonymised data when integrated with 3rd party health service platforms. 

When used as a standalone device, users have to accept the End User License Agreement (EULA).

The data security and privacy are handled as per HIPAA compliance.

Yes, you may choose to delete your account. To delete your account, please request the same via an email to support@salcit.in with necessary account information. 

Swaasa® is ISO 13485:2016 certified,  ISO 27001:2013 certified and HIPAA certified.

ReWell MD was the original name of the respiratory health assessment platform developed by Salcit Technologies Private Limited, which has been renamed as Swaasa®.