Physiological Sound Processing for Medical Diagnostics: Innovations, Challenges, and Applications

Dear Colleagues,

Physiological sound processing is an emerging field that could revolutionize non-invasive diagnostics. The analysis of physiological sounds, such as heartbeats, lung sounds, coughs, and snoring, provides valuable insights into a wide range of medical conditions. With advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and signal processing, these sounds can now be analyzed with unprecedented accuracy, enabling early disease detection, patient monitoring, and treatment planning.

This Special Issue aims to provide an overview of recent developments in physiological sound processing for medical diagnostics, focusing on innovative methodologies, real-world applications, and clinical integration. By compiling interdisciplinary contributions from engineers, clinicians, and researchers, we aim to bridge the gap between technological innovation and practical implementation in healthcare.

The scope of this Special Issue includes, but is not limited to, the following topics:

• Heart Sounds: AI-driven auscultation techniques for detecting arrhythmias, murmurs, and valvular diseases.
• Lung Sounds: Advanced signal processing methods for diagnosing asthma, COPD, pneumonia, and other respiratory conditions.
• Cough Analysis: Automated tools for differentiating between viral, bacterial, and chronic respiratory diseases, including tuberculosis and COVID-19.
• Sleep Apnea and Snoring: Acoustic analysis for detecting and characterizing sleep-related breathing disorders.
• Wearable Devices: The development and validation of mobile and wearable technologies for capturing and processing physiological sounds.
• Explainability and Ethical AI: Designing explainable AI models for sound diagnostics and addressing ethical challenges in clinical deployment.
• Standardization and Clinical Validation: Efforts to standardize datasets, protocols, and clinical trials for sound-based diagnostics.

Dr. Oliver Faust
Prof. Dr. Prabal Datta Barua
Guest Editors

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