Multichannel speech signal enhancement method based on ICA for objective auscultation of traditional Chinese medicine

Auscultation is one of the four diagnosis methods in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Objective auscultation based on applications of computer and digital signal processing techniques became a new trend in modern days. However, speech is inevitably corrupted by ambient noise which leads to rapid deterioration on the accuracy of diagnosis on the part of objective auscultation system. This paper attempts to apply ICA method in a noise reduction process. The basic principles of ICA and noise reduction are illuminated briefly. Experiments are conducted to evaluate the effect of different kinds of ICA algorithm. Finally, the paper concludes with a discussion on the feasibility and practicality of this method.