Smartphone Use in Clinical Voice Recording and Acoustic Analysis: A Literature Review

Abstract

With the increase of smartphone use and availability over the last decade, mobile healthcare applications have become more accessible. Many of these applications allow users to track behaviors and goals, and acquire feedback and information while on the go. Recent studies appearing in the literature suggest that smartphones may offer a means of augmenting clinical voice assessment by recording individuals with voice disorders outside the clinic for the purpose of extracting acoustic characteristics. This review examines the effectiveness of smartphones in clinical voice assessment and treatment, as reported in the current literature. The PubMed database was searched using a combination and variation of different term related to smartphones, voice, and recording apps, in order to find articles that address the role of smartphones in clinical voice recording and assessment. Six studies published in the last 3 years were reviewed and examined in terms of types of device and operating systems used, types of subjects and disorders studied, voice parameters extracted, and microphones used. Considerations such as impact of environmental noise, and privacy and security issues are also examined. While smartphones and mobile apps have the potential to be valuable tools in voice assessment outside the clinic, further efforts are needed for them to be effectively used in a clinical setting.