Now on bbc news, click. This week, were looking at your health. Ai is listening to your breath. An electric headset is treating depression. And the robots are in theatre. Hey, welcome to click. Hope youre doing 0k. Now, were recording this on wednesday. By the time you see it, england will be in its second lockdown, so ive been out to get my emergency pre lockdown haircut. Yes, and i need to get my roots done before midnight so wed better hurry up and then i guess over the coming weeks, well, well be back to this. I guess so, i guess so. So, although lockdown is an inconvenience for some, and a financial crisis for many, there are those people whose medical conditions make the coronavirus even more dangerous. Take Cystic Fibrosis. Now, this is an inherited condition that affects around 11,000 people in the uk. It causes a thick, sticky mucus to build up in the lungs and the digestive system. Recently the Cystic Fibrosis trust, the university of cambridge, microsoft and the Royal Papworth Hospital have teamed up to create project breathe. Its a Remote Monitoring platform that uses Artificial Intelligence. Due to the pandemic, the project has sped up. 0riginally it had 97 patients, but by the end of this year, its expected to have 500. We went to visit sammie read to hear about her experience with the project. Sammy was two years old when she was diagnosed with cf and was one of project breathes earliest participants. Before i got involved with project breathe, i didnt know what Artificial Intelligence was. I had no idea. So i use these pieces of equipment to upload all my data automatically to my phone. They then number crunch through the ai system and then they obviously deal with everything that i have inputted over the last 365 days. Trends and that are obviously then analysed and then they are then forwarded onto the relevant person. The equipment is used to monitor key indicators such as lung function and oxygen saturation, which are automatically compiled and tracked via an app. She coughs the ai is used to recognise patterns and predicts any decline in health early. It then alerts an individual when they need to go for a check up. Those living with cf usually have to attend a clinic every six weeks, even if theyre well. That results in a huge number of wasted days for people, disrupting their lives and putting them at risk of infection. The Artificial Intelligence within this monitors my data input and it can see trends so it can see, for example, when im likely to pick up an infection looking forward, when for example, they can see 11 days in advance within the trends that, you know, you are likely to be going downhill so they can pick that up quicker, which means i can treat myself quicker, which means that im not then obviously admitted as an inpatient. Attending a clinic every six weeks also means that relatively little data is collected, both on the individual and across all of those living with cf. But now, eight or nine pieces of data can be captured at home every day of the year. Im finding Artificial Intelligence really interesting. Im finding it that how can something so simple as uploading some data mean that it can save me time, it can save the nhs time, it can save my consultant time but its everythings just moving forward and ijust think its a wonderful thing that we can, you know, obviously input something that takes five minutes that is going to then, you know, increase everyones chances of living longer. That was sammie read. Now ai is also being used in a groundbreaking study to try and identify the difference between covid 19 and other dangerous lung conditions. Jen copesta ke been to find out more. The ability to quickly diagnose Health Conditions is becoming more and more urgent as the coronavirus pandemic continues. Theres a backlog of patients waiting for scans. Cancer research uk estimates this is currently 3 Million People. So doctors are increasingly looking to study how Machine Learning algorithms could process large amounts of data quickly with fewer human resources. At the Royal Marsden hospital, a study is under way to develop an algorithm that can determine the difference between covid 19 and the side effects of Cancer Treatment on a scan. These are things that are often very difficult for the human eye to determine. Ok, so this is a patient with coronavirus, covid 19. Essentially, we have some ct scans of the chest, taken a few weeks apart. Doctor richard lee is a consultant in respiratory medicine and a champion of early cancer diagnosis at the hospital. So on the left side here, you can see the patient has the two lungs which are usually black in colour. And we have this fluffy, greyer kind of almost ground glass appearance at the bottom of the lung. One of the things we see in covid 19 is the ground glass change it suggests infection or inflammation but the same things can be seen in the context of how the cancer is behaving, and particularly important is how the treatment itself can cause a very similar change when there is toxicity. A large archive of anonymized clinical images is being used, with approval from the hospitals ethics board. This data can be studied without inconveniencing the patients. Expert radiologists can make indications of things that are slightly more like the pattern of covid 19 or more like the pattern of treatment toxicity. And obviously, this is a new disease and were trying to understand how much depth we can see in the subtlety and the amount of information we think we can extract. Using computer algorithms and analysis we think will be much more able to differentiate those changes, and certainly to do so more quickly when we are under times of strain, such as in a pandemic. One of the patients who gave permission for her scans to be used is sarah ward. Sarah was diagnosed with melanoma and has been receiving immunothera py treatment for the last two years. Immunotherapy can cause toxicity to build up in the lungs, which can damage them. I had issues with my lungs at the beginning and i was breathless. I was quite scared, because they said it could damage my lungs and they indicated there was a possibility that i would not be able to go back on the treatment so i was quite relieved when they said that i could go back on it and that there was not any there wasnt damage to my lungs. This damage can present in a similar way to covid, which is why her scans were selected. So i feel that if that helps future Cancer Patients and improves the care of cancer, especially in these covid 19 times, then thats a good thing. I dont mind a machine being used. Other ways algorithms are being used to help doctors during the pandemic include identifying covid positive patients through coughing. The researchers at mit showed how they could use samples from tens of thousands of coughs to determine whether the cough was covid related. An algorithm picked up differences indecipherable to the human ear, identifying 98. 5 of people who had the virus and were displaying symptoms and 100 of people who were asymptomatic. With no immediate end to the Current Crisis in sight, finding ways of prioritising treatment and diagnosis using ai will continue to increase. Hello and welcome to the week in tech. This was the week that while all eyes were on the us president ial election, Gig Economy Companies like uber, lyft and doordash won a vote in california that means freelance workers such as uber drivers will continue to be classed as contractors, not employees. That same night, voters in maine chose to ban the use of facial recognition by police and city agencies. If google meet is your video calling app of choice, you may be pleased to know theyve just added virtual backgrounds like on zoom, skype and Microsoft Teams perfect for hiding your messy kitchen, and just in time for those of us in england going back into lockdown. The makers of the Raspberry Pi Computers have revealed a new model, contained inside a keyboard, inspired by retro machines like the zx spectrum and bbc micro. The Company Hopes the low cost device will appeal to families who dont have a computer at home. Japanese fashion retailer zozo is giving its spotty body measuring suit another whirl to help people buy clothes that fit online. The zozo suit lets the suit wearer measure their body by standing in front of a smartphone camera. The original was criticised for giving inaccurate readings but zozo says the new suit is much more accurate. 0k, sorry to get this stuck in your head but guess whats become the most watched video on youtube. Baby shark it is baby shark, the infuriatingly catchy childrens song. Its now been watched more than 7 billion times, overtaking the previous record holder despacito, the pop hit by luis fonsi. Mike is a2. He works in tech and lives in west sussex with his wife and five kids. Hes also one of the 264 Million People around the world who experience depression. Ive had depression for 15 years clinically, living day to day with mood swings and upsetting thoughts like of suicide. You can spend a week where you dont want to get out of bed of a morning. Sometimes, when youre depressed, you just dont feel like talking. Over the past year, mike has swapped traditional therapy for an app and an electricity emitting headset. Today, only half of patients are accessing the treatment they need, but this set up could help them get immediate support without even leaving the house. Take these two little jobbers here. You then go tie up your hair, if you have any start the headset, and then it connects over bluetooth. Ive got a big head so it goes on and it fits me really nicely, actually. A weak current stimulates the part of the brain thats usually less active in those with depression. Its a weaker version of similar treatments already delivered by doctors in clinics. It just tickles, just a little bit. There are pages of advice on sleep, exercise, nutrition and mindfulness. I sit back and relax or i go on the app. Female voice close your eyes and direct your focus into your body. Focus on your breathing. The latest thing i did was an attention exercise and it was it was a video to show me how to for mindfulness, how to calm myself and focus on my breathing. Male voice try not to think about these thoughts as distracting. Theyre actually part of mindfulness practice. Most communication on the app goes through a chat bot. This encourages users to stick to sessions, suggest positive actions and record progress. Ive done 25 hours of stimulation, it knows that i have done 63 of the chat sessions, and i can see on this Treatment Programme that theres a downward curve, and a downward curve means that im feeling less depressed, which is really important, obviously. When youre on your medication, you dont know how youre doing, but with this treatment, you do. Things have changed are fairly fundamental things like being able to engage with my children more, being able to get into my workshop and do things that i find relaxing. Being out of a depressive mood is life changing. What it does is that it makes it easier for the brain cells to fire or to discharge, and its been looked at in thousands of people around the world. I think this is a potential first line treatment for depression particularly for people who cannot take antidepressant medication or who might not want to take antidepressant medication or who dont want psychotherapy. That doesnt mean that the treatment comes without risk, though. Considering that people might just use this instead of getting having a proper assessment and getting proper help. How long you can use it for, how much you can how often you can use it, long term effects all of that needs to be looked at some more. Even flows founders in sweden accept their device wont work for everyone. Its the same for all treatments. Even as a clinical psychologist, i know that even up to 60 go out of the clinicians office and havent got an effect from cbt, for example. We know thats true with antidepressants also. Flow is now running a Clinical Study to prove the efficacy of combining the app with the headset, but its the app they believe will really keep users on course. Many people, say, look at the headset and think that this is the new thing but the chat bot is at least as important. The chat bot has many, many functions, so we want to be able to explain to the user that its important that you follow treatment protocol, we want to be able to remind them about that, to increase the efficacy. But a headset app combo is not the only option for those who are struggling. There are many other free clinically approved tools in the nhs apps library. New this year, this one aims to 10 to 18 year olds improve Mental Health with its floating ai driven chat bot. Male voice lets get started and remember, im here with you every step of the way. This one uses cognitive behavioural therapy to help those struggling with negative thoughts. Whilst these choose your own Adventure Games help install useful emotional fitness skills. Apps like these have become increasingly popular in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. But although they may help, its important to remember that they dont replace a medical professional. And if you feel that you need some support, you can go on the website below to see details of the help available. Now, while weve been spending more time at home, as well as movies and tv, many of us have been gaming more than we used to. In fact, the click team are having a weekly among us tournament every friday and laras wiping the floor with us most weeks. But as well as being a distraction from everything, there is one game which has actually been recruiting its community to help Research Covid 19. Eve online is one of the biggest multiplayer role playing games out there, with 300,000 monthly players. Set in space, you can be anyone a fighter, a trader, even a pirate. While exploring the universe, players can also engage in a mini game called project discovery where they analyse cell clusters. Now, although itsjust part of the game for them, theyre actually sifting through real world data for researchers who are examining how the coronavirus affects blood cells. Its a gamified version of a scientific technique called Flow Cytometry which is used to measure physical characteristics of a population of cells or particles. So far, over 171,000 players have completed 47 million tasks which amounts to 36 years of categorising cells. You just look at a plant and you just draw polygons around data. You can sit there, pull it up and start doing it, and i think that was exciting for me just how approachable it was. You hear about the Covid Research going on all around the world. A lot of people like you know have had it, or know someone who has had it and just the fact that i can sit here at my desk while waiting for a fleet, doing something thats going to contribute to helping find out information about covid 19. The data generated by the players accelerates the scientists ability to determine whats in the blood of covid 19 patients. That information provides an insight into how our bodies react to the virus and how therapies that are being developed interact with both the coronavirus and our immune system. And as players have been so successful at the data classification, theyve been given even more complex tasks by the team behind the project. Its really just like Citizen Science to a tee. We had a giant group of people and we made this fun, we gamified this quite a bit. There are incentives for people to do it thatll boost their game experience, but its also just the heart and soul of our community as well. These are things that people really enjoy and this really is for the greater good. That was the strength of this project in particular where this came out when everybody in the world was at its height of being affected by this. Voiceover what were going to do, guys, is were gonna sit 10k off a target, were gonna blap it really quick and then were gonna walk to the run spot. Does that make sense . Yep. Yes. Outstanding. Standby. And its notjust about the bonuses for the players. Eve onlines community is keen to support the scientific effort in the fight against covid 19. Thattjust phenomenal, that i have this opportunity just playing a videogame. And i think thats really kind of what got me into it is that, i can sit at my desk in the comfort of my home and i can help researchers do something. You know, make a difference. And thats kind of cool. How brilliant is that . Now, were going to continue with our health theme and talk about surgery, specifically, keyhole surgery. This is something that can be quicker than normal surgery, it can cause less trauma and it can reduce recovery times. This kind of surgery can be carried out by remote controlled robots. Its just not that widely available. But paul carter has been to see a new type of robot surgeon that could change that. Im certainly no stranger to scrubs. You can see the arms moving behind me. They almost look like theyre moving independently. This us robot still dominates the market but its big, its heavy and costs nearly 2 million a pop. But now theres a new british bot on the block. This also aims to help patients heal quicker by performing complicated medical procedures through just a few access cuts. It turns out, stacking tiny blocks is perfect for surgeons in training. Today, only around a third of people who could have keyhole surgery actually get it. Its hoped this small mobile set up will make it more accessible. One of the differences with this design is that its modular which also makes a portable. Meaning, in theory, even someone like me should be able to move it. Surgeons wear 3d glasses to improve depth perception while controllers manipulate wristed arms for greater dexterity and precision. One of the troubles with the big robotic system is it occupies the theatre. When youre not doing robotic surgery, very often the theatre then stands empty. You could fold this up and move it to the theatre next door to colleague number two who wants to use it, honestly, in a few minutes. Theres no tremor because the instruments taken that away from me. Anything you can give that reduces the physical strip, its a win.