An Overview of Cough Sounds Analysis

Cough is a common respiratory symptom, caused by the inflammation of trachea and bronchial mucosa or chemical stimulation. Compared with other sounds, cough sound has a typical uniqueness which makes it possible to analyze the differences between cough and other sound performance. Since coughing is a very important symptom of many diseases, the study of the relationship between the nature of coughs and the pathogenesis of respiratory diseases has considerable medical value. Despite the constant progress in cough-study over these years, attention to this interesting physical and clinical problem is still insufficient to fully address various objective problems, including the correct cognition of cough-mechanism and the relationship with various respiratory diseases. This paper summarizes the previous research on cough sounds, including the method of analyzing cough and the difficulties in current cough analysis. The idea and prospect for further research in the future is also mentioned.