An automated system for 24-h monitoring of cough frequency: the leicester cough monitor.
The objective monitoring of cough for extended periods of time has long been recognized as an important step towards a better understanding of this symptom, and a better management of chronic cough patients. In this paper, we present a system for the automatic analysis of 24-h, continuous, ambulatory recordings of cough. The system uses audio recordings from a miniature microphone and the detection algorithm is based on statistical models of the time-spectral characteristics of cough sounds. We validated the system against manual counts obtained by a trained observer on 40 ambulatory recordings and our results show a median sensitivity value of 85.7%, median positive predictive value of 94.7% and median false positive rate of 0.8 events/h. An analysis application was developed, with a graphical user interface, allowing the use of the system in clinical settings by technical or medical staff. The result of the analysis of a recording session is presented as a concise, graphical-based report. The modular nature of the system interface facilitates its enhancement with the integration of further modules.
Matos
Sergio
S
Department of Medical Physics, University Hospitals of Leicester, Leicester LE 5WW, U.K. sgam1@le.ac.uk
Birring
Surinder S
SS
Pavord
Ian D
ID
Evans
David H
DH
D000465:Algorithms; D001314:Auscultation / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D003371:Cough / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D006801:Humans; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation; D013018:Sound Spectrography / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods