Authors: Isabel Sanchez-Olivieri, Matthew Rudd , Juan Carlos Gabaldon-Figueira, Francisco Carmona-Torre, Jose Luis Del Pozo, Reid Moorsmith, Lola Jover, Mindaugas Galvosas, Peter Small, Simon Grandjean Lapierre, Carlos Chaccour ‍

The paper focuses on evaluating the consistency and accuracy of human annotators in labeling cough sounds, as well as examining sex differences in cough characteristics. The study is important for developing reliable methods to quantify coughs, which is essential for improving cough monitoring systems.

Key aspects of the study include:

• Annotation Agreement: The research assesses the level of agreement among human annotators in two ways:

1. Intralabeller Agreement: measures how much an individual annotator agrees with their own labeling across different instances.
2. Interlabeller Agreement: evaluates the consistency between different annotators' labeling of the same cough sounds.

• Methodology: The study involved 24 participants who wore an audio-recording smartwatch to capture continuous audio for 6-24 hours. A sample of this audio was labeled twice by an expert annotator and then by six trained annotators. Around 400 hours of audio were collected and 40 hours were analyzed.

• Results:

1. The study found a high level of intralabeller agreement (Pearson's correlation 0.98) and interlabeller agreement (Pearson's correlation 0.96)
2. Using "cough seconds" (any one second of time containing at least one cough) as the unit of analysis reduced annotator discrepancies by 50% compared to counting individual coughs
3. The length of cough sounds and the epoch size (number of coughs per bout) showed significant differences between men and women, suggesting a need for tailored approaches for different sexes.

Latest in Publications

View All

PublicationsAbstracts

A Prospective Decentralized Pilot Study Assessing a Digital Therapeutic Feature Inside CoughPro: For Adults with RCC/UCC

Hyfe pilot study tests a digital therapeutic combining passive cough monitoring with behavioral suppression techniques delivered through the CoughPro app.

04.12.2025

PublicationsPeer-reviewed

The value of continuous cough monitoring: a narrative review

This narrative review by Hyfe's R&D team makes the case that continuous cough monitoring (CCM), powered by acoustic AI, transforms cough from a subjective symptom into a quantifiable digital biomarker.

30.11.2025

PublicationsAbstracts

Azithromycin and Oesophageal Motility in Chronic Respiratory Disease: A Feasibility Trial

Independent ERS 2025 NeuroCOUGH trial uses the Hyfe Cough Tracker to test feasibility of studying azithromycin's effect on cough and oesophageal motility.

18.11.2025

PublicationsAbstracts

Azithromycin and continuous cough monitoring: an open-label trial

Independent ERS 2025 trial uses the Hyfe Cough Tracker to show azithromycin reduces objective cough frequency by week one in chronic respiratory disease.

18.11.2025

Dive into the science. Explore our publications.

READ MORE