A new study from Mayo Clinic found an artificial intelligence (AI)-based computer algorithm accurately predicted a person’s likelihood of suffering heart problems related to clogged arteries based on voice recordings alone.
They found that people with a high voice biomarker score were 2.6 times more likely to suffer major problems associated with coronary artery disease (CAD), a buildup of plaque in the heart’s arteries, and three times more likely to show evidence of plaque buildup.
While the technology is not yet ready for use in the clinic, the demonstration suggests voice analysis could be a powerful screening tool in identifying patients who may benefit from closer monitoring for CAD-related events.
The study was presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 71st Annual Scientific Session and was conducted by Jaskanwal Deep Singh Sara et al.
The study represents the first time voice analysis has been used to predict CAD outcomes in patients who were tracked prospectively after an initial screening.
Previous studies retrospectively examined voice markers associated with CAD and heart failure.
Other research groups have explored the use of similar technology for a range of disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and COVID-19.
In the study, researchers recruited 108 patients who were referred for a coronary angiogram, an X-ray imaging procedure used to assess the condition of the heart’s arteries.
Participants were asked to record three 30-second voice samples using the Vocalis Health smartphone application.
For the first sample, participants read from a prepared text. For the second sample, they were asked to speak freely about a positive experience, and for the third, they spoke freely about a negative experience.
The Vocalis Health algorithm then analyzed participants’ voice samples. The AI-based system had been trained to analyze more than 80 features of voice recordings, such as frequency, amplitude, pitch, and cadence.
In previous studies, researchers identified six features that were highly correlated with CAD.
For this study, researchers combined these features into a single score, expressed as a number between -1 and 1 for each individual. One-third of patients were categorized as having a high score and two-thirds had a low score.
Study participants were tracked for two years. Of those with a high voice biomarker score, 58.3% visited the hospital for chest pain or suffered acute coronary syndrome (a type of major heart problem that includes heart attacks), the study’s composite primary endpoint, compared with 30.6% of those with a low voice biomarker score.
Participants with a high voice biomarker score were also more likely to have a positive stress test or be diagnosed with CAD during a subsequent angiogram (the composite secondary endpoint).
Scientists have not concluded why certain voice features seem to be indicative of CAD, but the autonomic nervous system may play a role.
This part of the nervous system regulates bodily functions that are not under conscious control, which includes both the voice box and many aspects of the cardiovascular system, such as heart rate and blood pressure.
Therefore, it is possible that the voice could provide clues about how the autonomic nervous system is functioning, and by extension, provide insights into cardiovascular health.
Sign up for our newsletter for more information about this topic.
If you care about heart health, please read studies about short on sleep? Your heart may have this problem and she put off heart symptoms until it was almost too late.
For more information about heart disease, please see recent studies about weight-loss drug that can help protect heart, reduce body fat, and results showing the night before a big presentation, lawyer-mother has a heart attack.
Copyright © 2022 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
