Sergio D. Cano-Ortiz, Centro de Estudios de Neurociencias, Procesamiento de Imágenes y Señales, Universidad de Oriente, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba
The purpose of this article is to show the potential that spectrographic analysis for the Analysis of Infant Cry (AIC) currently has in the exploration of the behavior of the acoustic signal of crying and its correlation with situations that could represent disorders in childhood neurodevelopment. The spectrogram provides direct images of a crying oscillogram, which expose harmonic structures and artifacts that provide information about the neurophysiological status of the child. From its visual inspection, information can be extracted regarding the acoustic characteristics of the crying signal such as: fundamental frequency, formants, energy, as well as the presence of qualitative attributes that enrich the information obtained from that cry. Several of these spectral characteristics can be measured and compared, giving a unique value to the spectrogram as a tool for the study of the acoustic wave that is infant crying and its potential use as a tool to help diagnose pathologies in a non-collaborative patient such as the neonate. The evolution of the spectrographic method at AIC is addressed from the state of the art, as well as recent contributions that expose its current validity.
Keywords: Spectral analysis. Spectrogram. Classification of infant crying.