Welcome to the RELOAD Study website.

RELOAD: REspiratory disease progression through LOngitudinal Audio Data machine learning.

What is the RELOAD study?
This study will explore whether sounds such as breathing, speaking and coughing can be used to predict whether someone with a cough or cold is likely to get better or worse. Artificial intelligence (AI) will be used to analyse recordings made by volunteers on their smartphones.

Why is this study important?
If it works, such analysis could:
•    advise patients if they need to see a doctor,
•    reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescribing, and
•    reduce hospital admissions by recognising patients who are at higher risk.

Who are we looking for:
We are looking for adults who have access to a mobile phone to take part in the study. If you currently have a cough and want to take part in our study please sign up and try to record your breath sounds every day until you are better. If you do not have a cough at the moment, it would still be helpful if you could sign up and make your baseline recordings now: then you can come back and make some more recordings if you become unwell over the winter.

How do I take part?
You will need to install the study app called Breath Tracker onto your smartphone. If you would like to take part, please download it from the App Store (for iPhones) or Google Play (for Android):

 

 

You can also access the participant information sheet through the app, and if you decide to take part it will ask you to complete a consent form. Once you have completed the consent form the app will guide you through completing the questionnaires and sound recordings for the study.

Funder:
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)

Duration:
02/10/2023 to 31/3/2025