title: Acoustic analysis of snoring sounds recorded with a smartphone according to obstruction site in OSAS patients.
abstract: Snoring is a sign of increased upper airway resistance and is the most common symptom suggestive of obstructive sleep apnea. Acoustic analysis of snoring sounds is a non-invasive diagnostic technique and may provide a screening test that can determine the location of obstruction sites. We recorded snoring sounds according to obstruction level, measured by DISE, using a smartphone and focused on the analysis of formant frequencies. The study group comprised 32 male patients (mean age 42.9 years). The spectrogram pattern, intensity (dB), fundamental frequencies (F0), and formant frequencies (F1, F2, and F3) of the snoring sounds were analyzed for each subject. On spectrographic analysis, retropalatal level obstruction tended to produce sharp and regular peaks, while retrolingual level obstruction tended to show peaks with a gradual onset and decay. On formant frequency analysis, F1(retropalatal level vs. retrolingual level: 488.1 ± 125.8 vs. 634.7 ± 196.6 Hz) and F2(retropalatal level vs. retrolingual level: 1267.3 ± 306.6 vs. 1723.7 ± 550.0 Hz) of retrolingual level obstructions showed significantly higher values than retropalatal level obstruction (p < 0.05). This suggests that the upper airway is more severely obstructed with retrolingual level obstruction and that there is a greater change in tongue position. Acoustic analysis of snoring is a non-invasive diagnostic technique that can be easily applied at a relatively low cost. The analysis of formant frequencies will be a useful screening test for the prediction of occlusion sites. Moreover, smartphone can be effective for recording snoring sounds.
authors.affiliation: Department Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Busan Saint Mary's Hospital, 538-41 Yongho-dong, Nam-Gu, Busan, South Korea. koosookweon@naver.com.
authors.forename: Soo Kweon
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Koo
authors.affiliation: Department of Language and Information, College of Humanities, Pusan National University, Geumjeong-Gu, South Korea.
authors.forename: Soon Bok
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.affiliation: Department Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Busan Saint Mary's Hospital, 538-41 Yongho-dong, Nam-Gu, Busan, South Korea.
authors.forename: Yang Jae
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Busan Saint Mary's Hospital, 538-41 Yongho-dong, Nam-Gu, Busan, South Korea.
authors.forename: J I Seung
authors.initials: JIS
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.affiliation: Department Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Busan Saint Mary's Hospital, 538-41 Yongho-dong, Nam-Gu, Busan, South Korea.
authors.forename: Young Jun
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Busan Saint Mary's Hospital, 538-41 Yongho-dong, Nam-Gu, Busan, South Korea.
authors.forename: Sung Hoon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Jung
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics; D000328:Adult; D000403:Airway Resistance / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017286:Polysomnography; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D000068997:Smartphone; D012913:Snoring / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013016:Sound; D014059:Tongue; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Acoustics; Endoscopy; Obstructive sleep apnea; Snoring