Voice recognition as an innovative method to identify and monitor heart failure – a review
Screening of heart failure (HF) remains suboptimal. However, vocal biomarkers are an emerging tool to screen for HF and predict adverse outcomes. This article is a literature review of the current evidence, exploring the use of vocal biomarkers to screen for HF and predict hospitalisation and mortality. Voice may be utilised as a time-efficient method for the screening of HF, risk stratification, and monitoring of disease progression. Vocal biomarkers such as pause ratio and artificial neural networks can screen for HF accurately in a case-control setting. Other vocal markers like maximum phonation time, creak percent are useful to monitor disease progression. Vocal biomarkers appear to match current predictors of one-year mortality, HF related decompensation and hospitalisation. The integration of vocal biomarkers assessment in HF healthcare is promising across primary and secondary care settings. Key challenges including health data protection, regulatory compliance, and user acceptance must be addressed before these tools can be fully integrated into HF clinical care pathway.
Authors
- Fausto Barlocco (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4342-8459)
- Serena Fatucchi
- Giulia Taborchi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6542-5152)
- A. Fuller (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-1871-178X)
- Aleksandra Milovančev (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4398-8093)
- Djordje G. Jakovljević (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2686-6542)
- Marta Jiménez-Blanco Bravo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9825-8285)
- Guy A. MacGowan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2685-4165)
- Amy Groenewegen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2393-1927)
- Prithwish Banerjee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7793-1733)
- Alessandra Fornaro
- Nduka C. Okwose (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0145-2538)
- Lars Siegfried Maier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9915-4429)
- Maria Tafelmeier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3778-6716)
- Simone Bartolini
- L V Velicki
- Duncan Edwards
- José Luis Zamorano
- Laura Sasso
- Renae J. Stefanetti
- Iacopo Olivotto
- Petar M. Seferovic
- Massimo Milli
- Alban E. Voppel
- Sarah J. Charman
- Frans H. Rutten
- Anne P. Nelissen
- Jonathan Mant
- Nenad Filipovic
- Andrej Preveden
- Annamaria Del Franco
- Oscar Fernandez
Institutions
- Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (RS)
- University of Kragujevac (RS)
- University of Novi Sad (RS)
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- Douglas Mental Health University Institute (CA)
- Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ES)
- Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust (GB)
- University Medical Center Utrecht (NL)
- University Hospital Regensburg (DE)
- Centro de Investigación en Red en Enfermedades Cardiovasculares (ES)
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red (ES)
- Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Careggi (IT)
- Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases of Vojvodina (RS)
- NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre (GB)
- Azienda Usl Toscana Centro (IT)
- Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal (ES)
- University of Florence (IT)
- Coventry University (GB)
- Newcastle University (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Heart Failure Reviews
- Published
- 2026-04-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s10741-026-10625-3
- Primary Topic
- Voice and Speech Disorders
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- UK Research and Innovation