Ability to cough can be evaluated through cough sounds: An experimental investigation of effects of microphone type on accuracy

To develop a novel cough ability evaluation system through cough sounds, this study verified the effects of three types of microphones (bone conduction mic, mini speech mic, and smartphone mic) on the estimated cough peak flow. From the results of the non-linear regression analysis, the determination coefficients showed high values (greater than 0.7) for the three types of microphones investigated. Furthermore, for the cough sounds recorded with the bone conduction mic and the smartphone mic, including the height variable in the revised prediction equation of the cough peak flow improved the accuracy of the estimated cough peak flow.