Wearable Scratching-Sound Sensing Device for Animal Healthcare

A novel wearable scratching-sound sensing device for monitoring a dog's scratching intensity was successfully developed. Recently, quantitative monitoring of the number and intensity of scratching behavior in dogs has been required. In this study, we fabricated a body-conduction microphone consisting of an intermedium and a sealed air chamber for sensing scratching-sound. The intermedium transmits body-conducted sound and attenuates surrounding airborne noise, and the air chamber amplifies body-conducted sound. We then developed the collar-type device with the fabricated body-conduction microphones to estimate scratching intensity by sensing body-conducted scratching-sound in dogs. The body-conducted sound-to-airborne sound ratio of the body-conduction microphone was 46 dB, 30 dB higher than that of a conventional microphone. The sound measured by the body-conduction microphone showed a high correlation (correlation coefficient 0.87) with the scratching intensity. In the experiment of an actual dog's scratching behavior monitoring using the developed collar device, it was indicated that this device could estimate not only scratching behavior but also scratching intensity in a dog.

Automated summary

A novel wearable scratching-sound sensing device has been developed to monitor the scratching behavior and intensity in dogs. The device utilizes body-conduction microphones to detect the scratching sound and estimate the intensity. The results show high accuracy and reliability in determining the scratching behavior and intensity.