{"id":70396,"date":"2020-10-21T13:21:56","date_gmt":"2020-10-21T17:21:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=70396"},"modified":"2025-09-30T10:44:32","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T14:44:32","slug":"detecting-covid-19-cough-sounds","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/detecting-covid-19-cough-sounds\/","title":{"rendered":"Detecting COVID-19 Through Cough Sounds: Carleton’s Madison Cohen-McFarlane Hosts Ingenious Talks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Detecting COVID-19 Through Cough Sounds: Carleton's Madison Cohen-McFarlane Hosts Ingenious Talks\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

On Tuesday, Oct. 20, Carleton University biomedical engineering PhD student Madison Cohen-McFarlane hosted Ingenious Talks Online: Detecting COVID-19 Through Cough Sounds<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Presented by Carleton\u2019s Faculty of Engineering and Design<\/a>, Ingenious Talks<\/em><\/a> is a special speaker series that engages the community in discussions of timely and innovative ideas in engineering, design and technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the talk, Cohen-McFarlane discussed her research in identifying specific cough types and the development of what may be one of the first internationally available-upon-request database of COVID-19 cough sound events, created by a team of researchers at Carleton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Madison
Madison Cohen-McFarlane<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPrior to the pandemic and everything being locked down, I was looking into possible ways to evaluate cough sounds in terms of their frequency and severity,\u201d said Cohen-McFarlane.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cMore forceful coughs and more frequent coughing can be an indication of a worsening health conditions and being able to track and monitor this could be very helpful to health-care providers when making treatment decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Cough is an early recognizable symptom of COVID-19, which presents a set of challenges for diagnosis because coughs are also common symptoms of a variety of other medical conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drawing from her ongoing research, Cohen-McFarlane explained how the creation of unobtrusive remote audio monitoring tools for medical professionals may aid in COVID-19 diagnosis, monitoring and contact tracing and help lead to more efficient and accurate treatments, especially in this time of physical distancing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter the pandemic hit and everyone was working from home, one of the things I found myself doing, along with many other people I\u2019m sure, was watching interviews with COVID-19 positive individuals,\u201d said Cohen-McFarlane. \u201cI noticed that many of them coughed during their interviews and thought it would make a very interesting and relevant database for rapid audio-based algorithmic development.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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