A free-field cough detection device for long-term monitoring of cough

A three-stage cough detection algorithm that operates on a free-field acoustic signal was developed for use in the medical arena. The algorithm counts the number of seconds containing cough of the individual being monitored, and stores their temporal distribution. A prototype ambulatory device that incorporates this algorithm was developed and implemented on a digital signal processor (DSP) development board. The device performance is evaluated for voluntary coughs from a sample of three healthy individuals collected under ambulatory conditions. An overall sensitivity of 89.49%, a specificity of 95.09%, and a positive predictivity of 88.95% are achieved with the device for data containing 333 positive cough seconds.