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ACOUSTIC PROCESSING OF SPEECH TO IMPROVE ELECTROLARYNX COMMUNICATION

Award Number: R41DC008722
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/01/2007
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 02/28/2009

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ACOUSTIC PROCESSING OF SPEECH TO IMPROVE ELECTROLARYNX COMMUNICATION - DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Over half of laryngectomy patients use an electrolarynx (EL) to communicate, but current EL devices produce speech that has poor quality ("non-human sounding") and reduced intelligibility. The acoustic deficits in EL speech inhibit the ability of laryngectomy patients to communicate, thus reducing their functional capability and quality of life. The long-term goal of this project is to develop real-time speech processing technology to remedy the acoustic deficits in EL speech and thereby improve EL communication and quality of life for laryngectomy patients. Phase I will build on our preliminary studies that showed a significant improvement in the naturalness of EL speech with the addition of F0 variation, and demonstrated the feasibility of co-varying F0 based on modulations in the amplitude of the EL speech signal. An analysis-by-synthesis approach and perceptual experiments will be used to determine whether amplitude-based control of F0 can significantly improve the sound quality of EL speech, as well as restore the reduced capability that EL users have to signal linguistic contrasts involving intonation and contrastive stress. Given positive results in Phase I, Phase II will include development of a prototype (portable) DSP-based hardware platform for implementing the F0 control algorithm in real time. Further experiments utilizing analysis- by-synthesis and perceptual evaluation will be performed to identify additional acoustic deficits in EL speech (deficits in voice source, vocal tract resonance parameters, etc.) that can be corrected algorithmically to further improve sound quality and intelligibility. The ultimate goal of Phase II is to produce a prototype portable system would allow an EL user to communicate in real time using the newly developed speech acoustic enhancements either on a telephone or in a face-to-face situation. Of the approximately 1000 patients per year who undergo laryngectomy in the United States, more than half of them use an electrolarynx for communication post-laryngectomy. Unfortunately, EL speech contains persistent acoustic deficits that negatively affect intelligibility and social interaction. The proposed research will use an analysis-by-synthesis approach and perceptual experiments to determine whether amplitude-based control of fundamental frequency can significantly improve the sound quality of EL speech.


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: 2009 ( Subtotal = $0 )
2009	2007	SENSIMETRICS CORPORATION	48 GROVE STREET, SUITE 305	SOMERVILLE	MA	02144	MIDDLESEX	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	1	11/7/2008	NEW	$0
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2007 ( Subtotal = $107,997 )
2007	2007	SENSIMETRICS CORPORATION	48 GROVE STREET, SUITE 305	SOMERVILLE	MA	02144	MIDDLESEX	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	1	8/31/2007	NEW	$107,997
														Subtotal = $107,997

Grand Total All Awards = $107,997

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ACOUSTIC PROCESSING OF SPEECH TO IMPROVE ELECTROLARYNX COMMUNICATION

Award Number: R41DC008722

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/01/2007

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 02/28/2009

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