Tuberculosis (TB)is one of the oldest known disease to affect humans caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis usually affecting the lungs although other organs can also be involved. (1) Pulmonary tuberculosisis a global heath burden affecting predominantly low and middle income countries. TB is one of the top 10 leading causes of death and the leading cause from a single infectious agent. (2) According to WHO database 2017, 1 million children became ill with TB and another 230000 children died of TB. Death due to TB was estimated to be around 1.3 million among HIV negative individuals with an additional 3 lakhs death from HIV positive individuals (3) The disease mainly spreads through airway spread of droplet nuclei from cough.

A series of experiment conducted in 1960s showed that the spread of droplet nuclei was more during cough than by talking or singing. (5) Since then there was a number of studies focusing on the cough characteristics such as cough frequency, diurnal variation etc. Proano et al (6) studied the dynamics of cough frequency in 64 adults undergoing treatment for pulmonary TB using a semi-automated ambulatory monitor Cayetano Cough Monitor. The study showed that coughs were more frequent in daytime. Two weeks of antitubercular therapy (ATT) reduced cough frequency and achieved culture conversion in one third of patients.The Cavetano Cough Monitor was validated in patients with TB and showed a sensitivity of 75.5%

Early diagnosis of pulmonary TB in an individual is crucial for TB control because it helps in early initiation of treatment as well as reduce further spread in the community. Chest X ray though useful in diagnosis has limitations due to lack of specificity and presence of atypical findings that can mimic other conditions. Definitive diagnosis depends on recovery of the organism in culture or identification using DNA or RNA amplification techniques

TimBre is a Non-Invasive & Point of Care Solution from Docturnal that screens for Pulmonary Tuberculosis Screening using a Microphone Array that is connected to a Mobile Phone RunningTimBre App.The device is a XY Microphone Array that comes with a filter (pop/wind) which needs to be replaced after a positively screened result is obtained to avoid the bacilli spread to the next suspect/patient. It supports both USB & battery & an additional connector connects to Mobile Phone Jack to the Line in jack of the Microphone Array. This can also be replaced by a USB 2.0 cable. Optionally a tripod is available as needed.