Apparatus and method for identifying a coughing event

An apparatus for identifying a coughing event, the apparatus comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a non-transitory memory having stored thereon executable instructions, which when executed cause the processor to perform operations including:
• obtaining, from a sensor included in a monitoring device worn by a patient, a plurality of digital voltage values;
• analyzing the plurality of digital voltage values to identify a physiological event based on (i) a change in magnitude of the digital voltage values and (ii) a duration of the change in the magnitude of the digital voltage values, the change in the magnitude of the digital voltage values and the duration of the change in the magnitude of the digital voltage values representing a first point in a two-dimensional feature space;
• and
• categorizing the identified physiological event as the coughing event based on a threshold hyperplane existing in the two-dimensional feature space.

A system for identifying a coughing event, the system comprising:

• a monitoring device including a microcontroller and a piezoelectric sensor configured to output voltage values to the microcontroller in response to strain placed upon the piezoelectric sensor by a patient as a result of a physiological event, the microcontroller being capable of performing short-range wireless communication;
• and
• a computer device capable of performing the short-range wireless communication,
• wherein microcontroller converts the voltage values obtained from the piezoelectric sensor to digital voltage values, and outputs the digital voltage values to the computer device using the short-range wireless communication,
• wherein the computer device analyzes the plurality of digital voltage values to identify a physiological event based on (i) a change in magnitude of the digital voltage values and (ii) a duration of the change in the magnitude of the digital voltage values, the change in the magnitude of the digital voltage values and the duration of the change in the magnitude of the digital voltage values representing a first point in a two-dimensional feature space,
• wherein the threshold hyperplane is obtained by linear regression to optimize a margin between (i) a first class of one or more points in the two-dimensional feature space corresponding to a physiological event that is a coughing event and (ii) a second class of one or more points in the two-dimensional feature space corresponding to a physiological event that is not a coughing event,
• wherein the computer device categorizes the identified physiological event as the coughing event based on a threshold hyperplane existing in the two-dimensional feature space, and
• wherein when the identified physiological event is categorized as the coughing event, the computer device outputs an indication of the coughing event to a display.