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A simple voice test could help doctors distinguish between a sore throat and
something more serious—like a cyst or a tumour. Although people’s voices
can be very different, scientists at UMIST in Manchester and the city’s Christie
Hospital, Withington, have trained a neural network program to recognise the
characteristics of a healthy voice. If a lump forms on the larynx, the voice’s
characteristics are different—though the change may not be obvious to the
ear. “What we’ve got is the makings of a screening tool,” says Tim Ritchings of
UMIST.