Researchers demonstrate the efficacy of ultrasound technology to detect low-amplitude movements produced by vocalizations at the surface of the chest. They also demonstrated the possibility of using the airborne ultrasound surface motion camera to map these vibrations during short durations so as to illustrate their evolution.
But, among other shortcomings, common respiratory assessments can be subjective and are only as good as the quality of the exam. While the advent of multipoint electronic stethoscopes has helped in terms of identifying abnormalities during normal breathing, there remains a dearth of technological devices that can help characterize surface vibrations produced by vocalizations.
The researchers tested the AUSMC on 77 healthy volunteers to image the surface vibrations caused by natural vocalizations with the aim of reproducing the"vocal fremitus" -- vocalization-induced vibrations on the surface of the body -- as typically analyzed during physical examination of the thorax. Surface vibrations induced were detectable on all subjects, they reported.