Acquisition of signals for COPD research with a wearable device
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Evaluating the feasibility of Acoustic Monitoring for Identification of Respiratory Features Specific to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients
IRAS ID
242917
Contact name
Pallav Shah
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Chelsea Westminster Hospital
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Wales Rec 6, 18/WA/0230
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Diagnosis of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is often challenging as it relies on clinical presentation and physical symptoms. Changes in breathing sounds indicates possible exacerbation of COPD . The current practise to assess breath sounds through stethoscope auscultation ; audible changes of breathing sounds may already indicate a sign of infection or deterioration when presented to a health care Professional.
We have created a miniature sensing battery powered device that monitors body sounds, including those generated by breathing. The device comprises microphones, a small battery, and very low power integrated circuits to optimise the quality of the signal and wireless transmission, and to reduce interference/artefacts. The wireless signal from the sensor is received and stored in a base station (a mobile phone or a tablet). We are going to use the signal sensed with our device to carry out research aiming to create algorithms that are highly accurate in detecting changes in breath sounds characteristic of COPD. the performance of these algorithms is satisfactory in COPD patients, they will be implemented in real time so that automatic detection of clinical signs of COPD can be detected, which can lead to improve management of the disease. Although this is the first study in COPD patients, a previous pilot clinical study showed that the performance of a former version of this device compared favourably with that of the standard monitoring equipment used in hospital within the context for sleep studies. It is now important to establish whether the device can detect respiratory sound changes in COPD patients, and to create algorithms that are able to detect those changes automatically in a timely manner. We will achieve this by inviting COPD patients. Respiratory sound signals can be acquired so that signal processing research can be carried out to identify on those characteristics of COPD.REC name
East Midlands - Leicester Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/EM/0238
Date of REC Opinion
13 Aug 2018
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion