A smaller test showed similar results as young
as 9 months. And in a separate experiment
involving 25 kids’ ears, parents used the
smartphone to check for fluid just as well as
doctors did.
“Examining ears is difficult,” and better tools
are needed for doctors, too, said Dr. Alejandro
Hoberman, pediatrics chief at UPMC Children’s
Hospital of Pittsburgh, who also wasn’t part of
the research.
But just because there’s fluid present doesn’t
mean it’s infected — and Hoberman worried
that at-home use of such a device “may alarm
parents” and pressure doctors to prescribe
unnecessary antibiotics.
Dr. Randall Bly, a University of Washington
ear specialist and study co-author, says the
smartphone approach is a bit like using a
thermometer in deciding when to call a doctor.
If it finds no sign of fluid, “then you can be pretty
confident the fever or whatever is probably not
related to an ear infection,” he explained.
But lots of children have persistent ear fluid
without infections — and they’re supposed to
be tracked for months in deciding if they need
ear tubes. At-home monitoring would be easier
and cheaper than repeated doctor visits just for
an ear test, added Raju, a surgical resident.
That’s one reason the American Academy
of Otolaryngology in 2016 called for
development of at-home strategies to detect
fluid buildup in the ears.
The research was funded in part by the National
Science Foundation and National Institutes of
Health. The university filed for a patent, and
the researchers are seeking Food and Drug
Administration approval to sell the app.
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