The Therapeutic Potential of Voice Technology

John Halamka, M.D., president, Mayo Clinic Platform, and Paul Cerrato, senior research analyst and communications specialist, Mayo Clinic Platform, wrote this article.The human voice is capable of extraordinary feats of genius and everyday acts of kindness. It can recite Shakespearean sonnets, teach our children moral values, stir audiences with a dramatic performance, and much more. But few of us ever imagined it capable of assisting in the diagnosis of disease. That ’s about the change, as evidenced by several innovative projects in voice technology.With the right digital tools, it is now possible to analyze a patient ’s speech patterns to detect clues to underlying pathological issues. Elad Maor, MD, Ph.D., with the Mayo Clinic Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, and his colleagues have looked at voice samples from about 100 patients who underwent coronary angiograms, asking them to read text excerpts and r espond to questions about positive and negative emotional experiences. Their recorded responses found subtle differences in vocal pitch and intensity between patients who were ultimately diagnosed with heart disease and normal controls.[1] Dr. Maor and his associates concluded: “One possible explanation for our interesting finding is the documented association between mental stress, the adrenergic system, and voice. . . . Emotional stress conditions change the human voice, including an increase in fundamental frequency. . . . [O]ne possible ...
Source: Life as a Healthcare CIO - Category: Information Technology Source Type: blogs