Determining the site of airway obstruction in obstructive sleep apnea with acoustic analysis of snoring sounds

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INTRODUCTION : Snoring is the most frequent complaint of patients with obstructive sleep apnea ; hence, the acoustic analysis of snoring sounds can be useful for identification of the site of airway obstruction in obstructive sleep apnea patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of acoustic analysis of snoring for identification of the site of airway obstruction in OSAS patients.METHODS : OSAS patients who were planned to perform surgical treatment were included in this study. To determine the snoring site, that should be same as the site of upper airway obstruction, the endoscopic examination during drug induced sleep was performed just before pharyngeal surgery and drug induced snore was recorded from each subject. Using a Multi-dimensional Voice Program (MDVP) that analyze various aspects of voice, 15 snores from each subject were analyzed automatically.RESULT : The findings of endoscopic examination during drug induced sleep and the acoustic characteristics of snoring sounds revealed that ; 1) the peak frequency of snoring originated from palatine tonsils were around 1000 Hz ; 2) the site of snoring(e.g site of obstruction) and sound characteristics of snoring were significantly changed with related to breathing methods of OSAS patients.CONCLUSION : The acoustic analysis of snoring sounds can be useful for identification of the site of airway obstruction in obstructive sleep apnea patients but further examination need to be performed with related to breathing routes.