• R Phillip Dellinger, Joseph E Parrillo, Alon Kushnir, Marcello Rossi, and Igal Kushnir.
• Division of Cardiovascular Disease and Critical Care Medicine, UMDNJ - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Camden, Cooper University Hospital, Camden, NJ, USA.
• Respiration. 2008 Jan 1;75(1):60-72.

BackgroundThe field of computer-assisted mapping of lung sounds is constantly evolving and several devices have been developed in this field.ObjectivesOur objective was to evaluate a new computer-assisted lung sound imaging system, 'vibration response imaging' (VRI), that records and creates a dynamic image of breath sounds. We postulated that the VRI display format would qualitatively and quantitatively reveal breath sound distribution throughout the breathing cycle.MethodsLung sounds were recorded from 5 healthy adults and 14 patients with various respiratory illnesses using VRI. The lung sounds were processed by the VRI software, which incorporates an algorithm to convert breath sounds in the frequency range of 150-250 Hz to a dynamic image and quantitative assessment of breath sound distribution.ResultsImages and quantifications from recordings of the healthy adults showed distinct patterns for inspiration and expiration. Images and quantifications from the subjects with respiratory illness differed substantially from the images of the healthy subjects. Both healthy and pathological subjects presented some expected characteristics of breath sound distribution.ConclusionsThe VRI device may provide a new perspective in acoustic imaging and quantification of breath sounds by adding aspects of time analysis and quantification of distribution to existing methods. Further studies will be required in order to establish reliability of repeated recordings and to validate the sensitivity of the system in detecting various lung pathologies.(c) 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel.

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