Asthmatic airways obstruction assessment based on detailed analysis of respiratory sound spectra

This paper concerns the analysis of adventitious sounds produced by individ ual asthmatic patients, and relates the sounds to the degree of airways obs truction at the moment of sound recording. In this study, airways obstructi on is represented by a parameter commonly used in clinical tests, the force d expiratory volume in one second, A nonrestrictive approach using spectral information in detail is followed, resulting in a fairly high resolution o f respiration sounds with respect to airways obstruction. The beneficial ef fect of a power raising transformation is presented, together with an illum ination of the background of this effect.