ISLAMABAD, OCT 24 (Online): Currently, the most common and accurate methods for diagnosing type 2 diabetes involve blood work. A new study, however, asserts that type 2 diabetes can now be diagnosed based on the sound of a person\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n
Researchers from Klick Applied Science have developed a tool they say can diagnose type 2 diabetes in women and men, respectively, with up to 0.89 and 0.86 accuracy.<\/p>\n
To achieve this, the researchers used an ensemble model that also factored in women\u2019s body mass index (BMI) and men\u2019s age and BMI.<\/p>\n
The researchers recruited a total of 267 participants in India. There were 192 participants \u201479 women and 113 men \u2014who did not have diabetes. Another 75\u201418 women and 57 men\u2014had previously received a diagnosis of diabetes. With the aid of a smartphone application, participants recorded a single fixed phrase from six to 10 seconds up to six times each day for two weeks.<\/p>\n
They analyzed the resulting 18,465 recordings, measuring 14 different acoustic characteristics. This allowed the authors of the study to construct their diabetes identification tool.<\/p>\n
For women, the telltale characteristics turned out to be related to pitch, while for men, changes in strength or amplitude delivered a type 2 diabetes diagnosis.<\/p>\n
The study is published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Digital Health.<\/p>\n
Pitch in women, amplitude in men
\n\u201cWe looked at a number of vocal features, like changes in pitch and intensity that can\u2019t be perceived by the human ear,\u201d the study\u2019s lead author Jaycee M. Kaufman, a research scientist at Klick, told Medical News Today. By leveraging techniques from AI and machine learning, the researchers were able to detect and measure such subtle changes in people with type 2 diabetes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were surprised to find those vocal changes manifested in different ways for males and females,\u201d said Kaufman.<\/p>\n
Klick\u2019s tool can spot diabetes in women by the pitch of their voice, the amount of deviation from that pitch, and by relative average fluctuations in pitch in a single captured recording.<\/p>\n
For men, the authors describe an analysis of intensity, or amplitude, in the voice, as well as relative average perturbations in pitch for diagnosing type 2 diabetes.<\/p>\n
How diabetes affects voice
\nDr. Ari S. Eckman, endocrinologist at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, NJ, who was not involved in the study, said there are several ways in which type 2 diabetes might affect one\u2019s voice: \u201cPatients with elevated blood sugars may have changes to their vocal cords, possibly due to the effect it has on [their] elastic properties.\u201d<\/p>\n
People with long-term untreated type 2 diabetes may also develop nerve-damaging peripheral neuropathy that can cause hoarseness and place a strain on their vocal cords, said Dr. Eckman.<\/p>\n
\u201cAdditionally, patients may have myopathy, damage of the muscle fibers, which have been shown to [result in] an increased prevalence of voice disorders, potentially due to muscle weakness within the larynx,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
How is type 2 diabetes currently diagnosed?
\n\u201cCurrently validated tools established to diagnose diabetes include lab work,\u201d explained Dr. Jason Ng, endocrinologist at the University of Pittsburgh, who was also not involved in the study, listing \u201cHbA1c [hemoglobin A1C], sugar levels in varying environments, or an older method of a oral glucose tolerance test.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo date, we don\u2019t have any validated tools to confirm a diagnosis that doesn\u2019t involve lab work, so this would be novel,\u201d said Dr. Ng.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a significant need for patient screening in the diabetes space, and that access to healthcare may be a limiting factor for some individuals to receive a diagnosis,\u201d Kaufman noted.<\/p>\n
An at-home test for type 2 diabetes?
\nKaufman said they \u201cenvision a technology that would allow people to screen themselves for type 2 diabetes in their own homes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they receive a result indicating they may be at risk for Type 2 diabetes, they could then visit their primary care physician for a confirmatory diagnosis,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI look forward to a future where diagnoses can be further simplified for patients, and anticipate the promising work performed in this study will further be pursued with that intention,\u201d said Dr. Ng.<\/p>\n
For Dr. Eckman, the tool may prove most valuable as a means of tracking the health and progress of a person with diabetes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that changes in the vocal cords of patients with diabetes may make it more useful to see how patients are doing overall with their diabetes,\u201d he said, adding that he saw it as an additional tool for assessing patients\u2019 control or lack of control of blood sugars.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are thrilled about the fact that this work is now possible. [Until] recently, this kind of analysis was out of reach due to its complexity. The rise of powerful machine learning and computational techniques now allows us to mine the voice for clues to people\u2019s health.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014 Jaycee M. Kaufman, lead author
\nKaufman described this as a very exciting time for digital medicine.
\n\u201cWe hope that with earlier detection and intervention we can help to reduce the complications of undiagnosed type 2 diabetes while also having a profound impact on the accessibility challenges associated with screening,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD, OCT 24 (Online): Currently, the most common and accurate methods for diagnosing type 2 diabetes involve blood work. A new study, however, asserts that type 2 diabetes can now be diagnosed based on the sound of a person\u2019s voice. Researchers from Klick Applied Science […]<\/p>\n
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