Abstract
Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between breath acoustics and the Forced Expiratory Volume in one second (FEV1).
Method: An experiment was set up where standard spirometry measurements and breath sounds were simultaneously recorded in asthmatic subjects during the histamine challenge test. Breath sounds were obtained by placing a microphone over the trachea.
In total, eleven subjects completed the Histamine challenge: seven male and four female with the mean age being 29.9 years.
Acoustic features were extracted from the breath sounds, these features were divided into two categories, wheeze related and non-wheeze related markers.
Wheeze related features included: Maximum duration of wheeze and its frequency, mean frequency of the wheezes, number of wheezing episodes.
Non-Wheeze features included: Duration of exhalation and median frequency of the breath sound.
Results: We evaluated the correlation between the features extracted and the percentage change in FEV1. Our results showed that the highest correlation occurred between the duration of exhalation and percentage change in FEV1(r = −0.505). Furthermore, the number of wheezing episodes showed a correlation with FEV1% (r = −0.382), Median frequency (r = −0.364), maximum duration of wheeze (r = 0.278), frequency of maximum duration wheezing group (r = −0.096) and mean frequency of the wheezes (r = −0.292).
We also evaluated these features in detecting a 5% decrease in FEV1 compared to baseline. This 5% drop was detected with an accuracy of 82%, sensitivity of 80%, specificity of 84%, and an ROC area of 0.87. These results were obtained when all the features were combined in a Linear Discriminant Classifier.
Conclusion: The results of this study suggest a strong relationship between duration of exhalation and FEV1.
The study also showed that combining acoustic features can be beneficial in detecting a decrease in FEV1.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Pasterkamp H, Wiebicke W and Fenton R (1987) Subjective assessment vs computer analysis of wheezing in asthma. Chest 91:376–381
Meslier N, Charbonneau G, Racineux J-L (1995) Wheezes. Eur Respir J 8:1942–1948
Fiz J A, Jane R, Homs A, Izquierdo J, Garcia M A, Morera J (2002) Detection of wheezing during maximal forced exhalation in patients with obstructed airways. Chest 122:186–191
Homs-Corbera A, Fiz J A, Morera J, Jane R (2004) Time-frequency detection and analysis of wheezes during forced exhalation. IEEE Trans on Biomed Eng 51:182–186
Malmberg L P, Sovijarvi A R, Paajanen E, Piirila P, Haahtela T, Katila T (1994) Changes in frequency spectra of breath sound during histamine challenge test in adult asthmatics and healthy control subjects. Chest 105:122–131
Zweig M, Campbell G, (1993) Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) plots: a fundamental evaluation tool in clinical medicine. Clin Chem, 39(4):561–577.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Chah, E., Glynn, S., Atiyeh, M., Costello, R.W., Reilly, R.B. (2009). Investigating the Relationship between Breath Acoustics and FEV1 During Histamine Challenge. In: Vander Sloten, J., Verdonck, P., Nyssen, M., Haueisen, J. (eds) 4th European Conference of the International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering. IFMBE Proceedings, vol 22. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-89208-3_44
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-89208-3_44
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-89207-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-89208-3
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)