A team at the University of Washington has invented a smartphone app that, when used with a paper funnel, is able to detect ear infections in children.

The app is helping parents get to know of the child`s infection and visit the doctor timely.

Through the app a sound is produced which is similar to a bird`s chirp in the child's ear canal through a simple funnel.

It plays for 1.2 seconds and then uses the phone's mic to listen in. If fluids or pus have accumulated behind the eardrum, in the middle ear, the sound pattern of the returned echo will indicate an infection.

The app has a success rate of 85 percent when tested on around a hundred cases and is more accurate than a visual inspection by a doctor.