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Identifying Vocal Tract Gestures from Audio to Reimagine Biofeedback for Childhood Speech Sound Disorder

Award Number: K99DC023310
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: TRAINING/TRAINEESHIP
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 07/01/2026
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 06/30/2028

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Identifying Vocal Tract Gestures from Audio to Reimagine Biofeedback for Childhood Speech Sound Disorder - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT 1 The number of American children with chronic speech sound disorder is frustratingly high, 2 because best-practice therapies involving intensity and biofeedback exist but are clinically rare. 3 The long-term goal of this work is to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) pathways to intense 4 biofeedback therapy, lowering the otherwise lifelong impact of chronic SSD without raising 5 clinician burden. While AI clinicians can effectively raise therapy intensity, they cannot yet 6 automate best-practice vocal tract gesture feedback. This project’s central hypothesis is that 7 automated verbal vocal tract gesture feedback and visual vocal tract gesture biofeedback for AI 8 clinicians is possible through acoustic-to-articulatory speech inversion, which requires only a 9 microphone for clinical use. The overall objectives of this proposal are to infer child vocal tract 10 gestures from audio with speech inversion (Aim 1), classify vocal tract gesture error subtypes to 11 predict verbal feedback (Aim 2), and personalize visual tongue biofeedback displays for vocal 12 tract gesture error correction (Aim 3). During the mentored K99 phase, Aim 1 uses supervised 13 clinical machine learning regression, testing the primary hypothesis that fine-tuning an adult 14 speech inversion neural network on child data improves gesture inference for unseen children 15 compared to training on adults or children alone. In the independent R00 phase, Aim 2 uses 16 supervised clinical machine learning classification, testing the primary hypothesis that 17 multimodal gestural-acoustic architectures improve classification of error subtypes compared to 18 gestures or acoustics alone. Aim 3 uses a 2x2 factorial design, testing the primary hypothesis 19 that personalized biofeedback displays, animated using speech inversion vocal tract gesture 20 estimates, will have greater fidelity to ground-truth tongue ultrasound biofeedback videos than 21 stock animations for individual error subtypes. This innovative research will reimagine 22 biofeedback, driving a paradigm shift that expands the use of best practice intense biofeedback 23 therapy in the clinic, over telepractice, and at-home. This project aligns with multiple NIDCD 24 strategic themes by harnessing advanced technology to improve treatment through an 25 implementation pathway that enables vocal tract gesture biofeedback to improve the lives of 26 people with speech-sound-based communication disorders. The mentored phase of this research 27 is supported by the top-tier academic environment at the University of Maryland, College Park. 28 This award provides critical training in speech kinematics, clinical machine learning, and speech 29 animation that builds on the researcher’s background in clinical practice, speech science, and 30 engineering to develop the next generation of multidisciplinary scientific leadership.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2026 ( Subtotal = $132,695 )
2026	2026	UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK	3112 LEE BUILDING	COLLEGE PARK	MD	20742	PRINCE GEORGES	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	1	6/25/2026	NEW	$132,695
														Subtotal = $132,695

Grand Total All Awards = $132,695

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Identifying Vocal Tract Gestures from Audio to Reimagine Biofeedback for Childhood Speech Sound Disorder

Award Number: K99DC023310

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: TRAINING/TRAINEESHIP

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 07/01/2026

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 06/30/2028

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