Exhaled Air Speech Analysis for Home Physiological Screening
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional techniques for assessing impaired cardiovascular or pulmonary function require hospital visits or specialized devices, making them inconvenient and expensive.
Innovation Solution
A system using a simple microphone, such as a smartphone, to analyze exhaled air sound properties to compute gas concentrations and generate outputs indicating physiological states, allowing home-based testing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional diagnostic methods are used, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex mechanical and laboratory-based diagnostic systems with an acoustic measurement system using a simple microphone. The system captures speech signals and analyzes spectral properties (formant frequencies) to diagnose physiological conditions, substituting sophisticated medical equipment with a commonplace acoustic sensor.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the measurement parameter from direct gas concentration measurement to acoustic spectral analysis. By measuring formant frequencies in speech signals, which are influenced by gas exchange efficiency in the lungs, the system derives diagnostic information without requiring complex gas analysis equipment.
2Measurement precision
If conventional diagnostic methods are used, then measurement precision is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables subjects to perform self-diagnosis at home using only a microphone, eliminating the need to visit hospitals or clinics. The automated analysis of speech signals provides diagnostic results without requiring professional medical personnel, making the diagnostic process accessible and convenient for everyday use.
3Ease of operation
If simple acoustic sensors are used, then ease of operation is improved, but measurement precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses speech signals as an intermediary between the simple microphone sensor and the physiological state being measured. The speech signals carry information about gas exchange efficiency through their spectral properties, allowing the simple sensor to indirectly measure physiological parameters with sufficient accuracy for diagnostic purposes.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transforms the measurement from direct gas concentration detection to indirect acoustic spectral analysis. By measuring formant frequencies that are influenced by pulmonary gas exchange, the system achieves diagnostic capability with simple acoustic sensors without requiring precise gas concentration measurements.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables convenient and cost-effective diagnosis of conditions like heart failure, asthma, and COPD by analyzing sound properties and gas concentrations in exhaled air, providing alerts or outputs for physician assessment.
Implementation Method 1
The speed 'v' of sound in a gas is a function of the molecular mass 'M' of the gas
Implementation Method 2
Diffusion causes the gases to move across the alveolar walls, from the side of higher concentration to the side of lower concentration
Data Source
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AI summary
A method includes computing one or more values of at least one parameter at respective times during an exhalation of a subject (22), based on one or more properties of sound passing through air exhaled by the subject during the exhalation, the parameter being related to a concentration of a gas in the air. The method further includes generating (84) an output in response to the values. Other embodiments are also described.