ABSTRACT
This study investigates acoustic voice and speech features as biomarkers for acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF), a serious escalation of heart failure symptoms including breathlessness and fatigue. ADHF-related systemic fluid accumulation in the lungs and laryngeal tissues is hypothesized to affect phonation and respiration for speech. A set of daily spoken recordings from 52 patients undergoing inpatient ADHF treatment was analyzed to identify voice and speech biomarkers for ADHF and to examine the trajectory of biomarkers during treatment. Results indicated that speakers produce more stable phonation, a more creaky voice, faster speech rates, and longer phrases after ADHF treatment compared to their pre-treatment voices. This project builds on work to develop a method of monitoring ADHF using speech biomarkers and presents a more detailed understanding of relevant voice and speech features.
ABSTRACT
This pilot study used acoustic speech analysis to monitor patients with heart failure (HF), which is characterized by increased intracardiac filling pressures and peripheral edema. HF-related edema in the vocal folds and lungs is hypothesized to affect phonation and speech respiration. Acoustic measures of vocal perturbation and speech breathing characteristics were computed from sustained vowels and speech passages recorded daily from ten patients with HF undergoing inpatient diuretic treatment. After treatment, patients displayed a higher proportion of automatically identified creaky voice, increased fundamental frequency, and decreased cepstral peak prominence variation, suggesting that speech biomarkers can be early indicators of HF.
