Comparative Spectrographic Analysis of the Newborns' Cry in the Presence of Tight Intrapartum Nuchal Cord vs. Normal using the Neonat App. Preliminary Results.

Ileana Enatescu,Virgil-Radu Enatescu,Alexandra Nyiredi,Daniela Iacob,Mirabela A Dima,Manuela M Popescu,Emil-Radu Iacob,Adrian Gluhovschi

doi:10.3390/medicina55120779

Ileana Enatescu, Virgil-Radu Enatescu + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina55120779

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Abstract

Background and objectives: The objective of this study was to contribute to the evaluation of the newborn (NB) cry as a means of communication and diagnosis. Materials and Methods: The study implied the recording of the spontaneous cry of 101 NBs with no intrapartum events (control sample), and of 72 NBs with nuchal cord (study sample) from the “Bega” University Clinic of Obstetrics–Gynecology and Neonatology of Timisoara, Romania. The sound analysis was based upon: Imagistic highlighting methods, descriptive statistics, and data mining techniques. Results: The differences between the cry of NBs with no intrapartum events and that of NBs affected by nuchal cord are statistically significant regarding the volume unit meter (VUM) (p = 0.0021) and the peak point meter (PPM) (p = 0.041). Conclusions: While clinically there are no differences between the two groups, the cry recorded from the study group (nuchal cord group) shows distinctive characteristics compared to the cry recorded from the control group (eventless intrapartum NBs group).

Highlights

The cry is a biological sign by which people surrounding newborns (NBs) are alerted regarding the fulfillment of its needs
The aim of this study is to investigate whether there is a clear difference within the spectrographic analysis of the NBs cry between neonates with no evident impairment and neonates born with tight nuchal cords, recorded using the Neonat App
We considered two groups: The control sample (M) and the nuchal cord NBs (C); For each of these groups, *.arff files were created (30 s of each cry represented within two files: One corresponding to the volume Unit (VU) and the other to the peak point meter (PPM)); We made two classification studies between the training set and for the other groups for VU and PPM: VU: M-C; and PPM: M-C; Depending on the classification pattern, the algorithms used with the afferent results were framed as follows: Decision trees (Random Tree—RT); patterns based on rules (1B1); patterns based on lazy algorithms (NNGE); and decision table (DT)

Summary

Introduction

The cry is a biological sign by which people surrounding newborns (NBs) are alerted regarding the fulfillment of its needs. The sound (phonation) is produced at the level of the larynx, which contains the vocal cords and the glottis (the opening between the vocal cords). Various muscle groups such as facial, pharynx, mouth, and stem play an important role in sound formation. Materials and Methods: The study implied the recording of the spontaneous cry of 101 NBs with no intrapartum events (control sample), and of 72 NBs with nuchal cord (study sample) from the “Bega” University Clinic of Obstetrics–Gynecology and Neonatology of Timisoara, Romania. Conclusions: While clinically there are no differences between the two groups, the cry recorded from the study group (nuchal cord group) shows distinctive characteristics compared to the cry recorded from the control group (eventless intrapartum NBs group)

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