Acoustic analysis of the voice of smokers and its correlation with exhaled CO levels

• Grant number: 25/18105-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2025
• End date: August 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Linguistics
• Principal Investigator: Larissa Cristina Berti
• Grantee: Marina Stefani
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências (FFC). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Marília. Marília , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 23/00488-5 - SPIRA-BM: biomarkers for respiratory conditions on mobile devices using audio analysis with artificial intelligence, AP.TEM

Abstract

Smoking, from its early stages, causes changes in the vocal folds, affecting vocal quality (Gonzales & Carpi, 2004). However, there is a notable gap in the literature regarding the correlation between vocal acoustic parameters and the level of exhaled carbon monoxide (eCO), an index considered a possible indicator of pulmonary and/or systemic inflammation or oxidative stress (Ryter & Choi, 2014).The present study aims to investigate the effects of smoking on the voice through the analysis of acoustic parameters such as fundamental frequency, standard deviation of the fundamental frequency, shimmer, jitter, and harmonic-to-noise ratio, and to relate these measures to eCO levels during phonation in smokers. It is expected that smokers will present higher eCO levels and alterations in the acoustic parameters of the voice.For this purpose, data will be selected from the database of the SPIRA study: Early Detection System for Respiratory Failure, the main research project to which this study is linked. The analysis will include recordings of the sustained vowel /a/ with an average duration of 3 seconds and the eCO values obtained at the time of recording from 30 smokers and 30 non-smokers. Participants' demographic data, such as sex, age, and presence of comorbidities, will also be collected.Mean and standard deviation values of the acoustic parameters will be calculated and subsequently correlated with the eCO levels. Based on the results, it is anticipated that biomarkers can be identified to assist in the detection of smoking through acoustic voice parameters, in line with Line 2 - Biomarker for Estimating the Level of Exhaled Carbon Monoxide (eCO) in Smokers - of the SPIRA - BM thematic project. (AU)