S3.E5. 豬圈聲音偵測器 Eavesdropping in the pig pen

當豬咳嗽時，原因有兩種，一是因空氣裡有些什麼，二是牠們病得很嚴重。百靈佳殷格翰和比利時初創公司Soundtalks合作，為了預防傳染病，他們在豬圈裡掛上麥克風。

當Daniel Woestmann進入豬圈，整個情況變得活躍起來。當Daniel Woestmann忙著在周圍循環收集唾液樣本，動物們呼嚕呼嚕的叫著，並在餵食區周圍蹦蹦跳跳的玩著棉繩。唾液溫熱而臭臭的，豬圈溫度保持在24度左右且偏乾燥，完全是豬喜歡的環境。然而，比溫濕度還重要的是：整個豬圈是嘈雜無比的。咳嗽聲在這裡不會被注意，因此重大疾病的早期症狀很容易被忽視。

「如果豬像人一樣咳嗽，並不需要過度擔心」，獸醫Gudrun Finger說。如果環境很多灰塵，豬的喉嚨會發癢而咳嗽。「但如果咳嗽頻繁的發生，這是一個警訊，需要進一步的檢查。」

然而，對於一個農民而言，特別是像Daniel Woestmann這樣自己生產飼料的人，農場上有許多工作需要處理，因此沒有多餘的時間密切關心這些豬。這點正是百靈佳殷格翰與比利時初創公司Sound之間長期合作的目的所在：測量動物的咳嗽聲音。

一個黑色麥克風連接在Woestmann豬圈的四個隔間內，位置大約懸掛在豬隻上方兩米處的空中。黑色麥克風記錄了全部130隻動物的聲音，一周7天，每天24小時，永不間斷。電腦程式過濾掉所有噪音並留下咳嗽聲，這些收集到的咳嗽聲創建了數據庫，而根據數據庫，獸醫可以分析並連結到診斷樣本的結果。圖表顯示某段時間內咳嗽的次數，咳嗽次數過多能夠立即被辨識，一旦達到危險的臨界點，電腦程式就會向獸醫和農民發送訊息。「這項裝置主要的優勢是：我們可以早期發現危機，可以更快地幫助這些動物」，負責動物保健的執行董事會成員Joachim Hasenmaier博士說。這項裝置可以客觀的測量咳嗽聲並持續進行監控。

「這項裝置主要的優勢是我們可以在早期發現危機，可以更快地幫助這些動物」

──負責動物保健的執行董事會成員Joachim Hasenmaier博士

Soundtalks今年上市的最新麥克風可以無線通訊，除了豬的咳嗽聲外，還可以分析周遭的環境溫度和濕度水平。Soundtalks執行長Dries Berckmans說明，這項科技是豬的「健康監測器」，如果沒有和百靈佳殷格翰一起合作，這種工具可能無法被開發出來。「我們在這裡結合了來自兩個不同領域的專家：一方是聲音工程師和開發人員，另一方是獸醫」，Berckmans說。豬農Daniel Woestmann長期以來一直深信這種合作關係的價值，他將繼續使用這項技術。畢竟，他的目標是要擁有健康活躍的動物。

When pigs cough, there is something in the air – or they are seriously ill. Boehringer Ingelheim and the Belgian start-up Soundtalks hang up microphones in the pen to fight infections as early as possible.

As soon as Daniel Woestmann enters the pig pen, things liven up. The animals grunt and squeal; they throng around the feeding area and play around with the cotton rope that the 22-year-old circulates around the pen to collect saliva samples. It is smelly and it is warm – a dry 24 degrees, just the way pigs love it. Above all, however, it is noisy. A cough would not be noticeable here, and so a potential early symptom of a serious illness easily goes unnoticed.

“If a pig coughs, as with people, it doesn’t mean that you need to worry,” says veterinarian Gudrun Finger. If it is dusty, pigs can quickly get a tickle in their throats. “But if coughing occurs more frequently, it’s a red flag, and further examinations are advisable.”

However, for a farmer – particularly one like Daniel Woestmann who produces his own fodder – there is not enough time to pay such close attention to the pigs with so much work to do on the farm. This is precisely where a long-term cooperation between Boehringer Ingelheim and the Belgian start-up Soundtalks comes in: acoustic measurement of the animals’ coughing sounds.

One black microphone is hooked up for four compartments in Woestmann’s pig pen and hangs in the air some two metres above the pigs. It records the sounds of the 130 animals, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. An algorithm filters a crucial factor out of all the noise: the coughing. Datasets are thus created that veterinarians can analyse and link to findings from diagnostic samples. A graph shows the number of coughs in a certain period. High levels of coughing are immediately noticeable. Once a critical level is reached, the programme sends a message to the veterinarians and farmers. “The major advantage is that we can identify danger at an early stage and can help the animals more quickly,” says Dr Joachim Hasenmaier, Member of the Board of Managing Directors with responsibility for Animal Health. It also makes it possible to obtain objective measurement of the coughing and perform continuous monitoring.

“The major advantage is that we can identify danger at an early stage and can help the animals more quickly.”
DR JOACHIM HASENMAIER
Member of the Board of Managing Directors with responsibility for Animal Health

The latest microphones that Soundtalks is putting on the market this year can communicate wirelessly – and, in addition to the pigs’ coughing, can analyse the ambient temperature and humidity level. A “health monitor” for pigs is what Soundtalks head Dries Berckmans calls his tool, which could not have been developed without the cooperation with Boehringer Ingelheim. “We are combining expertise from two different worlds here: the sound engineers and developers on one side, and veterinarians on the other,” says Berckmans.

Pig farmer Daniel Woestmann has long been convinced of the merit of the partnership, and he will continue to use the technology. After all, it is in his interest that his pen remains a hive of activity in the future, too – thanks to strong and healthy animals.