Summary: SoundHealth has launched SONUCheck, an AI-powered feature in its app that uses vocal analysis to measure nasal patency. By leveraging machine learning, the app quantifies nasal breathing in real time, offering users personalized feedback to improve awareness of nasal versus mouth breathing. This feature addresses the health implications of mouth breathing, which is linked to increased risks of cardiovascular and respiratory issues. The tool can also be used in remote therapeutic monitoring, helping healthcare providers better engage with patients.
Key Takeaways:
- AI-Driven Voice Analysis: The app uses AI and machine learning to assess nasal breathing by analyzing voice samples, providing real-time scores directly to users’ smartphones.
- Health Benefits of Nasal Breathing: Encouraging nasal breathing can reduce risks associated with mouth breathing, such as hypertension, sleep apnea, and respiratory infections.
- Patient Engagement and Monitoring: The feature supports remote therapeutic monitoring, allowing physicians to track patients’ nasal breathing patterns and enhance overall respiratory health management.
SoundHealth Inc, a medical technology company harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and medical science to improve patient outcomes, has introduced SONUCheck, a vocal analysis feature in the SONU app that utilizes voice as a noninvasive biomarker to measure nasal patency.
It features a unique machine-learning approach that quantifies nasal breathing in real time and provides a personalized score in the free SONU app. SONUCheck will be available in the SONU app for general download on Nov 19.
Addressing Health Impacts of Mouth Breathing
Studies have shown that over 50% of Americans identify as mouth breathers. This prevalence highlights the need for increased awareness about the importance of nasal breathing for overall health and well-being, according to a release from SoundHealth.
Mouth breathing has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular problems, including hypertension and sleep apnea. It negatively affects the respiratory system, introducing unfiltered and poorly humidified air into the lungs, which leads to respiratory infections and inflammation. SONUCheck enables users to become aware of and quantify their nasal breathing.
“Nasal breathing offers numerous health benefits, including improved oxygen uptake, enhanced nitric oxide production, and better filtration of airborne particles. Nasal breathing is critical for proper facial development, dental health, and cognitive function,” says Jayakar Nayak, MD, PhD, associate professor of Otolaryngology at Stanford Otolaryngology — Head & Neck Surgery, in a release.
Analyzing Nasal Breathing from a Voice Sample
The SONU app leverages AI and machine learning to analyze and report a nasal breathing score, based on spectral properties and speech metrics of the recorded voice sample.
“SoundHealth’s unique AI-enabled scoring algorithm, validated by clinical data, continually improves with new voice samples, providing an innovative, accessible way to monitor nasal breathing. Paired with the FDA-approved SONU band, which relieves congestion, it’s the only app-based tool outside clinical settings for assessing nasality in real time,” says Paramesh Gopi, PhD, founder and CEO, SoundHealth, in a release.
SONUCheck enhances patient engagement by offering real-time personalized feedback that can be monitored by physicians as part of a remote therapeutic monitoring (RTM) program. Monitoring congestion symptoms with biomarkers and AI-enabled algorithms enables a proactive approach to respiratory health, reinforcing the patient-provider relationship and driving improved health outcomes.
Photo caption: The SONU app leverages AI and machine learning to analyze and report a nasal breathing score, based on spectral properties and speech metrics of the recorded voice sample.
Photo credit: Business Wire
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