Data processing: speech signal processing – linguistics – language – Speech signal processing – Application
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-22
2001-09-11
Dorvil, Richemond (Department: 2741)
Data processing: speech signal processing, linguistics, language
Speech signal processing
Application
C704S219000, C704S223000, C600S301000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06289313
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a method, device and system for estimating the status of at least one of a physiological and psychological condition of a human being.
Asthma is generally defined as a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways in which many cells and cellular elements play a role, in particular mast cells, eosinophils, T lymhocytes, macrophages, neutrophils and epithelial cells. In susceptible individuals, this inflammation causes recurrent episodes of wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness and coughing, particularly at night or in the early morning. These episodes are usually associated with widespread but variable airflow obstruction that is often reversible either spontaneously or with treatment. The inflammation also causes an associated increase in the existing bronchial hyperresponsiveness to a variety of stimuli.
Individuals with asthma have to follow their pulmonary functions regularly and adjust their medication accordingly. To enable this, certain parameters to describe the status of pulmonary function, and measurement devices to indicate the current values of these parameters have been developed. At present, measurements of these parameters are carried out through observing the characteristics of the inhalation and exhalation of the person. An adequate definition of the status of asthma symptoms generally requires a full spirometer analysis, which indicates the values of several pulmonary parameters, but this usually cannot be accomplished regularly on a daily basis. A simple measurement device is a PEF meter, indicating the Peak Expiratory Flow of the pulmonary tract, which device some asthma patients constantly carry with them. A single PEF value, anyhow, gives only a limited picture of the status of asthma symptoms, and the analysis of the measured value relies solely on the personal capacities of the individual in question. Furthermore, it is not very convenient to carry an extra device with oneself, nor is it always easy to find the time and the place to carry out the measurements in a discrete way.
Like in the asthma case, monitoring of many human conditions require test conditions and use of dedicated test equipment. For this reason frequent, long-term monitoring of such conditions is generally not available, except perhaps for a scattered test group of chosen people.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to address the limitations of the prior art and to offer an improved method for estimating the status of human physiological and/or psychological conditions.
The present invention uses a new approach where characteristics and transitions of said human physiological and/or psychological conditions are monitored by observing the values of the vocal tract parameters output from a digital speech encoder. According to the present invention, a method for estimating the status of at least one of a physiological and psychological condition is presented. The method is characterized by taking speech samples from the user and processing said samples into an input audio signal; generating a set of values of speech coding parameters from said input audio signal, said speech coding parameters representing characteristics of said input audio signal; applying a user specific mathematical relation to calculate the values of said condition parameters from said set of values of speech coding parameters; and estimating the status of said condition based on said calculated values of said condition parameters.
According to another aspect of the invention a device for estimating the status of at least one of a physiological and psychological condition is presented. The device is characterized in that it comprises input means for receiving input speech and transforming it into input audio signal; a speech encoder for generating a set of values of speech coding parameters from said input audio signal, said speech coding parameters representing characteristics of said input audio signal; a memory for storing data on a user-specific mathematical relation between parameters of said condition and speech parameters; a processor for applying said user-specific mathematical relation to calculate values of said condition parameters from said set of values of speech coding parameters; and output means for providing the resulting calculated values of certain condition parameters for estimation of the status of the user's condition.
According to the third aspect of the invention a system for estimating the status of at least one of a physiological and psychological condition is presented. The system is characterized in comprising: a plurality of monitoring devices comprising input means for receiving input speech and transforming it into input audio signal, and a speech encoder for generating a set of values for speech coding parameters from said input audio signal, said speech coding parameters representing characteristics of said input audio signal; a central monitoring unit comprising a database for storing data on a user-specific mathematical relation between said condition parameters and speech parameters, separately defined for each user, a processing unit for, as a response to a received set of values for certain speech coding parameters, retrieving the user-specific mathematical relation from the database and applying said relation to calculate the values of chosen condition parameters from said set of values for chosen speech parameters; an estimation unit for, as a response to the calculated values of chosen condition parameters, producing an estimate on the status of condition of the user.
It is appreciated that human speech gives information on at least two levels. In addition to the information of spoken words, the characteristics of the speaker's voice give many intentional and unintentional indications to the listener. By careful monitoring, different conditions associated with e.g. agitation, breathlessness, tiredness, confusion etc. can be noticed from the way the person talks. It is evident, that the present invention represents a considerable advancement over prior art solutions in many respects. A high-quality digital speech encoder is already available in modem cellular phones, which enable a large variety of monitoring solutions integrated to a device already at hand. Therefore, an easy and inexpensive way of self-monitoring can be provided for a large group of users.
For example, with the invention the user having asthma is relieved from purchasing and carrying a dedicated system merely for asthma-monitoring purposes. Taking a measurement in a conventional way by blowing to a device is preferably carried out in privacy. With the invented device, the measurement can be carried out practically anytime and anywhere, since the measurement can essentially be implemented by uttering words to a device e.g. using a cellular phone in a normal way, and talking to a mobile phone in a public place is very common nowadays. Furthermore, the mapping of pulmonary function parameters to vocal tract parameters can relatively easy be realized for several parameters, which widens the scope of possible daily analysis from one or a few PEF measurements to a more extensive report on functional features of the vocal tract.
A cellular phone itself offers considerable processing and memory means for analyzing and storing the measured data. Furthermore, the communication link provided by the cellular network provides an immediate access to practically infinite resources of data processing means, which can be utilized for collecting and monitoring data of the user. For example, the measurement data can be transmitted right away and even automatically to a database, where it can be examined by other people involved with monitoring, and critical values may even trick an immediate support or rescue processes of the healthcare authorities. The measured data can also be continually collected in order to monitor the long-term development of the status of user's condition.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3971034 (1976-07-01), Bel
Heinonen Pekka
Okkonen Harri
Ranta Jukka
Abebe Daniel
Dorvil Richemond
Nokia Mobile Phones Limited
Perman & Green LLP
LandOfFree
Method, device and system for estimating the condition of a... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Method, device and system for estimating the condition of a..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Method, device and system for estimating the condition of a... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2462219