Performance of a digital signal processing algorithm for the accurate quantification of cough frequency

This study examined the performance of a digital signal processing algorithm, as used in the Vitalograph VitaloJAK, for the accurate quantification of cough frequency in a series of 143 patients and healthy volunteers; outcomes of interest included the efficiency of the algorithm for reducing the length of the recordings to be listened to and the retention of cough sounds from a 24-hour recording after filtering. The algorithm was initially tested in adults and children with refractory/unexplained chronic cough, asthma, COPD, IPF, bronchiectasis, cystic fibrosis, and primary ciliary dyskinesia, as well as healthy volunteers. Next, the algorithm was tested in a larger set of patients with refractory/unexplained chronic cough.