Crackles: recording, analysis and clinical significance
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Updated: Oct 2, 2026

Crack Monitoring in Resonance Fatigue Testing of Welded Specimens Using Digital Image Correlation
Published on: September 29, 2019
1Laboratory of Clinical Physiology, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland.
Abstract:
Crackles are short interrupted breath sounds usually associated with pulmonary disorders. According to present opinion, a crackle is generated when an abnormally closed airway opens during inspiration or closes at the end of expiration. The timing of crackles in breathing cycles can be assessed with phonopneumography, their duration with time-expanded waveform analysis, and their pitch with analysis of frequency spectra. The timing, pitch and waveform of crackles are different in pulmonary disorders reflecting different pulmonary pathophysiology. This review deals with the genesis, auscultation, recording and analysis of crackles, with an emphasis on modern signal-processing methods.
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