title: A Subject-Specific Acoustic Model of the Upper Airway for Snoring Sounds Generation.
abstract: Monitoring variations in the upper airway narrowing during sleep is invasive and expensive. Since snoring sounds are generated by air turbulence and vibrations of the upper airway due to its narrowing; snoring sounds may be used as a non-invasive technique to assess upper airway narrowing. Our goal was to develop a subject-specific acoustic model of the upper airway to investigate the impacts of upper airway anatomy, e.g. length, wall thickness and cross-sectional area, on snoring sounds features. To have a subject-specific model for snoring generation, we used measurements of the upper airway length, cross-sectional area and wall thickness from every individual to develop the model. To validate the proposed model, in 20 male individuals, intensity and resonant frequencies of modeled snoring sounds were compared with those measured from recorded snoring sounds during sleep. Based on both modeled and measured results, we found the only factor that may positively and significantly contribute to snoring intensity was narrowing in the upper airway. Furthermore, measured resonant frequencies of snoring were inversely correlated with the upper airway length, which is a risk factor for upper airway collapsibility. These results encourage the use of snoring sounds analysis to assess the upper airway anatomy during sleep.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.|Toronto Rehabilitation Institute-University Health Network, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Shumit
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saha
authors.affiliation: Toronto Rehabilitation Institute-University Health Network, Toronto, Canada.|Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: T Douglas
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Bradley
authors.affiliation: Toronto Rehabilitation Institute-University Health Network, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Mahsa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Taheri
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Moussavi
authors.affiliation: Toronto Rehabilitation Institute-University Health Network, Toronto, Canada.|Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Azadeh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yadollahi
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D008954:Models, Biological; D012137:Respiratory System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D012913:Snoring / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013016:Sound