Acoustic Modeling of the Upper Airway using Breathing Sounds Analysis and Novel Medical Devices Development

该提案要求消声室以及电子设备和声学鼻测量设备来记录呼吸声音，这些声音对于上呼吸道建模和从实验室实验到原型和用户端设备的研究进展至关重要。所要求的设备将用于支持呼吸声音分析研究和开发用于诊断、治疗和监测呼吸系统疾病，特别是阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停（OSA）的新型医疗设备。阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停是最常见的呼吸障碍之一，其主要合并症包括记忆丧失、事故风险增加和心血管疾病。目前评估OSA的技术不仅昂贵，而且耗时，而且由于需要连接超过15个传感器和电线，给患者带来了不便。与我的学生和合作者一起，我们将开发一个上呼吸道的声学模型，可以校准以代表每个患者的上呼吸道特征。我提出的诊断系统仅使用3个传感器。与我的团队在呼吸声音分析方面的算法一起，将为OSA的点护理诊断和监测提供替代的非侵入性，快速和准确的评估工具。

This proposal requests an anechoic chamber along with electronic equipment and acoustic rhinometry equipment to record respiratory sounds that are critical for modeling the upper airway and progressing research from lab experiments to prototypes and user-end devices. The requested equipment is to support both research on breathing sounds analysis and the development of novel medical devices for point of care diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of respiratory disorders, in particular obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). OSA is one of the most common breathing disorders with major comorbidities, such as memory loss, increased risk of accidents, and cardiovascular disease. Current techniques to assess OSA are not only expensive but also time consuming and inconvenient for the patients due to attachment of more than 15 sensors and wires. With my team of students and collaborators, we will develop an acoustic model of the upper airway which can be calibrated to represent each patient’s upper airway characteristics. My proposed diagnostic system uses only 3 sensors. That along with my team’s algorithms on breathing sounds analysis will provide alternative non-invasive, fast and accurate assessment tools for point of care diagnosis and monitoring of OSA. The outcome of the proposed research will reduce Canada’s health care system cost significantly for there is a massive cost associated with OSA diagnosis and management. In addition, the outcomes will lead to development of devices for home care self-diagnostic and monitoring, which will provide individuals with OSA an accurate and reliable tool for monitoring their condition. Moreover, through the proposed research, 9 highly qualified personnel at graduate and undergraduate levels will be trained; they will likely become Canada’s future biomedical researchers or successful research and development entrepreneurs, who then would design and implement novel devices to improve human’s quality of life.