Acoustic evaluation of pirfenidone on patients with combined pulmonary fibrosis emphysema syndrome.

The combined pulmonary fibrosis emphysema syndrome (CPFES) overall has a poor prognosis with a 5-year survival of 35-80%. Consequently, to evaluate possible positive effects on patients of novel agents as pirfenidone is relevant. However, the efficacy of pirfenidone in CPFES patients is still not well-known.

Automated clustering of independent components for discontinuous sounds thoracic imaging.

Discontinuous lung sounds (DLS), also known as crackles, are abnormal sounds produced by different pulmonary pathologies (PP) whose thoracic spatial distribution and prevalence are relevant for diagnosis purpose. Recently, DLS imaging has been proposed to help diagnose and follow-up PP where automated recognition of DLS is meaningful. The present study focuses on the automated selection of independent components (ICs) associated with DLS.

Quantification of LLAEP interhemispheric symmetry by the intraclass correlation coefficient as a measure of cortical reorganization after cochlear implantation.

Objective: Electrical stimulation by a cochlear implant (CI) induces maturation of the auditory system and reorganization of the auditory cortex in deaf children. Cortical reorganization produces an interhemispheric asymmetry in auditory evoked brain potentials associated with sound stimulation after unilateral implantation. To objectively determine the onset of this phenomenon and follow this process over time, the interhemispheric symmetry needs to be quantified.

Independent component analysis for auditory evoked potentials and cochlear implant artifact estimation.

Auditory evoked potential (AEP) recordings have been analyzed through independent component analysis (ICA) in the literature; however, the performance varies depending on the ICA algorithms used. There are very few studies that concentrate on the optimum parameter selection for estimating the AEP components reliably, while also recovering the specific artifact generated with the normal functioning of a cochlear implant (CI). The objective of this research is to determine which ICA algorithm, high-order statistics (HOS)-based or second-order statistic (SOS)-based, is more plausible to remove this artifact and estimate the AEP.

Independent component analysis for robust assessment of auditory system maturation in children with cochlear implants.

The long latency auditory evoked potential (LLAEP) has been used for tracking changes in latency and morphology of the P1 peak in order to evaluate the maturation of the auditory system in children with cochlear implants (CIs). Cochlear implants can induce an artefact in the recordings when sounds are presented, which makes the analysis of LLAEPs much harder. Independent component analysis (ICA) has been used to remove this artefact.