Integrated Approach for Automatic Crackle Detection Based on Fractal Dimension and Box Filtering

Cátia Pinho, Ana Oliveira, Cristina Jácome, João Manuel Rodrigues, Alda Marques
2016 International Journal of Reliable and Quality E-Healthcare  
Crackles are adventitious respiratory sounds (RS) that provide valuable information on different respiratory conditions. Nevertheless, crackles automatic detection in RS is challenging, mainly when collected in clinical settings. This study aimed to develop an algorithm for automatic crackle detection/characterisation and to evaluate its performance and accuracy against a multiannotator gold standard. The algorithm is based on 4 main procedures: i) recognition of a potential crackle; ii)
more » ... ation of its validity; iii) characterisation of crackles parameters; and iv) optimisation of the algorithm parameters. Twenty-four RS files acquired in clinical settings were selected from 10 patients with pneumonia and cystic fibrosis. The algorithm performance was assessed by comparing its results with a multi-annotator gold standard agreement. High level of overall performance (F-score=92%) was achieved. The results highlight the potential of the algorithm for automatic crackle detection and characterisation of RS acquired in clinical settings.
doi:10.4018/ijrqeh.2016100103 fatcat:euukajtahzbi3f3umdhsg3it6e