AI stethoscope to reduce unnecessary antibiotics for children in Bangladesh
The BLAAST Trial: Bangladesh Lung Auscultation AI for Antibiotic Stewardship Randomized Controlled Trial
Compares care using an automated AI stethoscope with usual care to help reduce unnecessary antibiotics for young children with non-severe pneumonia in Bangladesh.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Johns Hopkins University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Baltimore, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11395139 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If your child takes part, they would be randomly assigned to care guided by a novel automated digital stethoscope with AI lung-sound analysis or to standard clinical care, and neither you nor the clinician will know which group they are in. The trial is double-blinded and designed to show the AI-enhanced approach is not worse than standard care for preventing treatment failure in low-risk children with non-severe clinical pneumonia. The project also includes on-the-ground studies of how the device could be used in clinics and an economic analysis of costs and savings. The work builds on prior validation of the stethoscope across multiple low- and middle-income settings.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Children aged 0–11 years in Bangladesh with non-severe clinical pneumonia who are considered low risk would be the intended participants.
Not a fit: Children with severe pneumonia, other serious illnesses, or those living outside the study clinics in Bangladesh would not be eligible and are unlikely to benefit from this trial.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the approach could safely reduce unnecessary antibiotic use in young children, lowering side effects and slowing antibiotic resistance.
How similar studies have performed: The digital stethoscope and its lung-sound analytics have been validated over years in several low- and middle-income countries and are FDA-approved, but randomized trials measuring impact on antibiotic use in children are limited.
Where this research is happening
Baltimore, United States
- Johns Hopkins University — Baltimore, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Mccollum, Eric Douglass — Johns Hopkins University
- Study coordinator: Mccollum, Eric Douglass
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.