Computers trained to spot cancer by listening to farts

Computers can detect cancer by listening to farts.

An artificial intelligence prototype is able to recognise subtle changes after hearing trumps from healthy and unhealthy people.

The developers believe that their system, Synthetic Human Acoustic Reproduction Testing (SHART), will one day be able to pick up signs of cancer.

The technology can be used to detect tell-tale differences in the sound of both pooping and urinating.

David Ancalle, a student at Georgia Tech University in the US, said: “We’re trying to find a non-invasive way where people can get a notification on whether or not they should go get checked out.

“Like, ‘Hey, your urine is not flowing at the rate it should’ or ‘Your farts are not sounding the way they should.'”

The AI prototype is yet to be tested on humans but Ancalle claims that it could identify which bodily function a sound was coming from 98 per cent of the time.

The researchers hope that it will soon be accurate enough to pick up slight changes that occur when a disease is developing.