Verbal periodic screening for heart disease

Abstract

A method for analyzing a voice sample of a subject to determine a cardiac condition, for example, an arrhythmic condition, comprising extracting at least one voice feature from the voice sample, detecting an effect of the cardiac condition on the at least one voice feature and determining the cardiac condition based on the effect. Disclosed is also a system for determining the cardiac condition in the voice sample provided by the subject. Related apparatus and methods are also described.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for monitoring a cardiac condition of a user, comprising:
 a. a system notifying a user to produce a voice sample;   b. the system capturing the voice sample;   c. the system extracting at least one voice feature from the voice sample;   d. the system analyzing said voice feature; and   e. the system determining a pathological cardiac condition based on said analysis.   
     
     
         2 . The system according to  claim 1  wherein the system is configured to notify the user to produce the voice sample by saying something specific. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein the system requests the user to produce a specific vowel as the voice sample. 
     
     
         4 . The telehealth system according to  claim 1  wherein the system provides voiced instruction to the user to provide the voice sample. 
     
     
         5 . The system according to  claim 1  wherein the system is configured to notify the user to produce the voice sample by providing voiced instruction to the user to say something specific to provide the voice sample. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein the system monitors the user's heart rate, and further comprising the system providing feedback to the user about the user's pathological cardiac condition. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein the system monitors the user's heart rate, and further comprising the system providing feedback to the user about the user's heart rate. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein the system:
 maintains a history of values of the user's cardiac parameters; and 
 tracks changes in the user's cardiac parameters. 
 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 8  wherein the system modifies cardiac parameters range of the user. 
     
     
         10 . The system according to  claim 1  wherein the system comprise instructions when to perform steps a-e. 
     
     
         11 . The system according to  claim 1  wherein the system comprise instructions how many times to perform steps a-e. 
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein the system is a telehealth system. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 12  wherein the telehealth system instructs a local device to perform steps a-c. 
     
     
         14 . The system according to  claim 1  wherein the system provides a reminder to the user to take a medication. 
     
     
         15 . The system according to  claim 1  wherein the system provides a reminder to the user to take a medication based on the determining. 
     
     
         16 . The system according to  claim 1  wherein the system performs a-e as a method of screening users. 
     
     
         17 . The system according to  claim 1  wherein the system determines a likelihood of a pathologic condition and refers the user to further testing based on the likelihood. 
     
     
         18 . The telehealth system according to  claim 1  wherein the system determines a likelihood of a pathologic condition based on determining the likelihood of the pathologic condition in a specific number of tests during a specific period of time. 
     
     
         19 . A method for monitoring a user for emotional state, comprising:
 a. a system notifying a user to produce a voice sample;   b. the system capturing the voice sample;   c. the system extracting at least one voice feature from the voice sample;   d. the system analyzing said voice feature; and   e. the system determining a pathological cardiac condition based on said analysis.   
     
     
         20 . A smart device comprising software for performing the method of  claim 1 .