Smartphone app uses voice recordings to detect lung congestion in heart failure patients

An app can help in early detection of lung congestion in heart failure patients by recording voice samples of 2-5 seconds each. This study examined the ability of a novel mobile application to distinguish between congested and non-congested states.

Sophia Antipolis : Voice analysis by a smartphone app identifies lung congestion in heart failure patients, allowing early intervention before their condition deteriorates. The small study is presented today on HFA Discoveries, a scientific platform of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).

With 40 patients of heart failure and lung congestion, a trial was done with them to record 5 sentences, 2-5 seconds each into a standard smartphone both at the time they were admitted and discharged. The researchers found that the technology successfully distinguished between the congested state at admission and the non-congested state at discharge.

Study author Professor Offer Amir, director of the Heart Institute, Hadassah Medical Centre, Jerusalem, Israel said,"Today we report results of the first easy to use, non-invasive, personalized heart failure monitoring device. It requires a simple 30-second recording each day, in any language."

He also said that this app/system can be used at home to monitor heart failure patients at home. The app can be downloaded in the smart phone and voice recordings can be submitted to the phone. Comparison with the healthy voice will be done on a regular basis and if any deviation, physicians will be alerted.

Prof Amir further added, "During the current COVID-19 pandemic healthcare professionals are transitioning many outpatient visits for heart failure patients to medicine platforms, highlighting the importance of remote monitoring to reduce the risk of exposure to Coronavirus."

Remember, patient having heart failures show the most common symptom of shortness of breath which is caused by congestion in lungs and timely identification of this is necessary, otherwise it can be fatal.

Lung congestion causes subtle changes in speech patterns, which may be a tool for assessing clinical status. Speech processing is currently used in a number of ways, for example converting text to speech and automatic voice recognition. This study examined the ability of a novel mobile application to distinguish between congested and non-congested states.