Screening Upper Respiratory Diseases Using Acoustics Parameter Analysis of Speaking Voice

Abstract

This paper presents the acoustic analysis of speaking voice for screening some of the upper respiratory diseases. The six acoustic parameters of speaking voice were analysed, which were recorded while reading the specific text. The text to read was designed considering phonetic categories of words used and their order of occurrence in the text. The appropriate number of words was combined to form the desired text to read for extracting maximum information from the upper respiratory system. Then recorded speaking voice was analysed for disease-specific corresponding variation in Total Harmonic Distortion (THD), Inter-Modulation Distortion (IMD), Peak Amplitude (PA), Peak Frequency (PF), Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) and Signal to Noise and Distortion (SIND). This study established the upper respiratory disease-specific signature of speaking voice for Cold & Cough, Pharyngitis, Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media (C.S.O.M.) and Rhinitis.