News Release

Machine learning diagnoses pneumonia by listening to coughs #ASA183

A new algorithm could spot early signs of respiratory diseases in hospitals and at home

Reports and Proceedings

Acoustical Society of America

Machine learning and pneumonia diagnosis

image: A machine learning algorithm identifies cough sounds and determines whether the subject is suffering from pneumonia. view more 

Credit: Jin Yong Jeon

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Dec. 5, 2022 – Pneumonia is one of the world's leading causes of death and affects over a million people a year in the United States. The disease disproportionately impacts children, older adults, and hospitalized patients. To give them the greatest chance at recovery, it is crucial to catch and treat it early. Existing diagnosis methods consist of a range of blood tests and chest scans, and a doctor needs to suspect pneumonia before ordering them.

Jin Yong Jeon of Hanyang University will discuss a technique to diagnose pneumonia through passive listening in his session, "Pneumonia diagnosis algorithm based on room impulse responses using cough sounds." The presentation will take place Dec. 5 at 4:20 p.m. Eastern U.S. in Summit C, as part of the 183rd Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America running Dec. 5-9 at the Grand Hyatt Nashville Hotel.

Jeon and fellow researchers developed a machine learning algorithm to identify cough sounds and determine whether the subject was suffering from pneumonia. Because every room and recording device is different, they augmented their recordings with room impulse responses, which measure how the acoustics of a space react to different sound frequencies. By combining this data with the recorded cough sounds, the algorithm can work in any environment.

"Automatically diagnosing a health condition through information on coughing sounds that occur continuously during daily life will facilitate non-face-to-face treatment," said Jeon. "It will also be possible to reduce overall medical costs."

Currently, one company has plans to apply this algorithm for remote patient monitoring. The team is also looking to implement it as an app for in-home care, and they plan to make the experience simpler and more user-friendly.

"Our research team is planning to automate each step-by-step process that is currently performed manually to improve convenience and applicability," said Jeon.

###

----------------------- MORE MEETING INFORMATION -----------------------

Main meeting website: https://acousticalsociety.org/asa-meetings/  
Technical program: https://eppro02.ativ.me/web/planner.php?id=ASAFALL22&proof=true

ASA PRESS ROOM

In the coming weeks, ASA's Press Room will be updated with newsworthy stories and the press conference schedule at https://acoustics.org/asa-press-room/

LAY LANGUAGE PAPERS

ASA will also share dozens of lay language papers about topics covered at the conference. Lay language papers are 300 to 500 word summaries of presentations written by scientists for a general audience. They will be accompanied by photos, audio, and video. Learn more at https://acoustics.org/lay-language-papers/.

PRESS REGISTRATION

ASA will grant free registration to credentialed and professional freelance journalists. If you are a reporter and would like to attend the meeting or virtual press conferences, contact AIP Media Services at media@aip.org.  For urgent requests, AIP staff can also help with setting up interviews and obtaining images, sound clips, or background information.

ABOUT THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA

The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is the premier international scientific society in acoustics devoted to the science and technology of sound. Its 7,000 members worldwide represent a broad spectrum of the study of acoustics. ASA publications include The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (the world's leading journal on acoustics), JASA Express Letters, Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, Acoustics Today magazine, books, and standards on acoustics. The society also holds two major scientific meetings each year. See https://acousticalsociety.org/.

###


Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.