Pneumonia causes the deaths of over a million people worldwide each year, with most\noccurring in countries with limited access to expensive but effective diagnostic methods,\ne.g., chest X-rays. Physical examination, the other major established method of diagnosis, suffers from\nseveral drawbacks, most notably low accuracy and high interobserver error. We sought to address this\ndiagnostic gap by developing a proof-of-concept non-invasive device to identify the accumulation\nof fluid in the lungs (consolidation) characteristic of pneumonia. This device, named Tabla after\nthe percussive instrument of the same name, utilizes the technique of auscultatory percussion;\na percussive input sound is sent through the chest and recorded with a digital stethoscope for analysis.\nTabla analyzes differences in sound transmission through the chest at audible frequencies as a marker\nfor lung consolidation. This paper presents preliminary data from five pneumonia patients and eight\nhealthy subjects. We demonstrate 92.3% accuracy in distinguishing between healthy subjects and\npatients with pneumonia after data analysis with a K-nearest neighbors algorithm. This prototype\ndevice is low cost and simple to implement and may offer a rapid and inexpensive method for\npneumonia diagnosis appropriate for general use and in areas with limited medical infrastructure.
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