RESUMO
Abstract Introduction This research investigates the applicability of a relatively new estimator of mutual information, KSG estimator, to find the reconstruction delay of phase space in dynamical systems. There are evidences that the KSG estimator is more accurate than the naive method commonly used. Methods In this paper we estimated mutual information between the voice signals and their delayed versions, with KSG method. The voice signals were obtained from a disordered voice database. Then, we found the reconstruction delay where mutual information reached its first minimum. We applied the encountered value of reconstruction delay in linear discriminant analysis, in order to discriminate between healthy and pathological voices or to discriminate between pathologies. Discrimination between voice pathologies using nonlinear measurements is still not much explored. Moreover, in this paper we used a single nonlinear measurement: reconstruction delay. Results The results show that the reconstruction delay obtained with KSG method has increased classification rates in most cases, in terms of accuracy, sensitivity and specificity, when compared to the naive estimator usually adopted. Conclusion The KSG estimator is a promising technique to improve the diagnosis of voice related pathologies.