Bowel sound analysis method and system

Abstract

A bowel sound analysis method and system utilizes an audio collection apparatus to continuously monitor an abdominal cavity of an examinee and collect a bowel sound signal of an intestinal tract inside the abdominal cavity, converts the bowel sound signal into a digital signal, then removes noise from the digital signal by using higher-order statistics (HOS) and captures a high-complexity feature from the digital signal by using fractal dimension algorithm, and subsequently defines the high-complexity feature as an intestinal motility signal. The refore, according to the intestinal motility signal, a time point when intestinal motility occurs in the intestinal tract inside the abdominal cavity of the examinee can be learned, and bowel sound features such as the amplitude, frequency, and period of the intestinal motility signal may further be analyzed to determine a health condition of the intestinal tract.

Description

BACKGROUND[0001]1. Technical Field[0002]The present invention relates to a bowel sound analysis method and system, and more particularly to a bowel sound analysis method and system that removes, by using higher-order statistics (HOS), noise from a continuously collected bowel sound signal, then captures a high-complexity feature by using a fractal dimension algorithm to obtain an intestinal motility signal to determine a time point when intestinal motility occurs, and may further analyze a feature of the intestinal motility signal to determine a health condition of an intestinal tract.[0003]2. Related Art[0004]According to the statistics data of Ministry of Health and Welfare of ROC in 2012, malignant neoplasm (cancer) was still listed first among the top ten leading causes of death. On average, one person died of cancer every twelve minutes and two seconds, and colorectal cancer still ranked third among the top ten cancers. Motility diseases caused by gastrointestinal problems are ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention is an apparatus that can monitor and evaluate the motility of the intestinal tract in real-time for patients with abdominal symptoms such as irritable bowel syndrome and diarrhea. It utilizes a long-term and automatic detection technology to remove background noise and evaluates the fractal dimension signal processing technology to determine the time point of an intestinal motility event. This allows for precise monitoring of abnormal changes in intestinal tract motility and helps to track and detect in time abnormal changes caused by drugs or treatment. In addition, the apparatus is designed to be nonintrusive and cost-effective, with small sizes and portability for improved convenience in system use. Furthermore, the detected signals can be transmitted in real-time to a computer for analysis using a wireless transmission technology, further improving the convenience for a physician.

Problems solved by technology

The use of gastroscopy and computed tomography may assist a physician to observe organs directly; however, the practicability of gastroscopy and computed tomography are actually limited by some constraints.

For example, computed tomography instruments are very expensive, gastroscopy requires direct entry into intestines and easily causes discomfort during examination, and both computed tomography and gastroscopy require professional training of operations and high demands for medical labor.

Computed tomography and gastroscopy are also unsuitable for long-term monitoring and measurement on a patient.

However, the use of a conventional stethoscope to observe a condition of intestinal motility must rely on a physician with rich clinical experience, and the quality of stethoscopy is affected by training and experience of an examiner, environment, and abdominal condition changes, and objective evaluation such as quantization of intestinal motility conditions of a patient cannot be easily performed.

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