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Artificial Intelligence Models for Pediatric Lung Sound Analysis: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Ji Soo Park, Sa-Yoon Park, J. Moon, K. Kim, D. Suh

Journal of Medical Internet Research, 2025

18 citations

Abstract

Background Pediatric respiratory diseases, including asthma and pneumonia, are major causes of morbidity and mortality in children. Auscultation of lung sounds is a key diagnostic tool but is prone to subjective variability. The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) with electronic stethoscopes offers a promising approach for automated and objective lung sound. Objective This systematic review and meta-analysis assess the performance of ML models in pediatric lung sound analysis. The study evaluates the methodologies, model performance, and database characteristics while identifying limitations and future directions for clinical implementation. Methods A systematic search was conducted in Medline via PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, OVID, and IEEE Xplore for studies published between January 1, 1990, and December 16, 2024. Inclusion criteria are as follows: studies developing ML models for pediatric lung sound classification with a defined database, physician-labeled reference standard, and reported performance metrics. Exclusion criteria are as follows: studies focusing on adults, cardiac auscultation, validation of existing models, or lacking performance metrics. Risk of bias was assessed using a modified Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (version 2) framework. Data were extracted on study design, dataset, ML methods, feature extraction, and classification tasks. Bivariate meta-analysis was performed for binary classification…

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