Development of a (silent) speech recognition system for patients following laryngectomy

Fagan, M. J.; Ell, S. R.; Gilbert, J. M.; Sarrazin, E.; Chapman, P. M.

Abstract

Surgical voice restoration post-laryngectomy has a number of limitations and drawbacks. The present gold standard involves the use of a tracheo-oesophageal fistula (TOF) valve to divert air from the lungs into the throat, which vibrates, and from this, speech can be formed. Not all patients can use these valves and those who do are susceptible to complications associated with valve failure. Thus there is still a place for other voice restoration options. With advances in electronic miniaturization and portable computing power a computing-intensive solution has been investigated. Magnets were placed on the lips, teeth and tongue of a volunteer causing a change in the surrounding magnetic field when the individual mouthed words. These changes were detected by 6 dual axis magnetic sensors, which were incorporated into a pair of special glasses. The resulting signals were compared to training data recorded previously by means of a dynamic time warping algorithm using dynamic programming. When compared to a small vocabulary database, the patterns were found to be recognised with an accuracy of 97% for words and 94% for phonemes. On this basis we plan to develop a speech system for patients who have lost laryngeal function. © 2007 IPEM.

Citation

Fagan, M. J., Ell, S. R., Gilbert, J. M., Sarrazin, E., & Chapman, P. M. (2008). Development of a (silent) speech recognition system for patients following laryngectomy. Medical engineering & physics, 30(4), 419-425. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.medengphy.2007.05.003

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 3, 2007
• Online Publication Date: Jun 27, 2007
• Publication Date: 2008-05
• Deposit Date: Nov 13, 2014
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 13, 2014
• Journal: Medical engineering & physics
• Print ISSN: 1350-4533
• Electronic ISSN: 1873-4030
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 30
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 419-425
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.medengphy.2007.05.003
• Keywords: Speech recognition; Rehabilitation; Laryngectomy; Magnetic sensor; Speech system
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/461235
• Publisher URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1350453307000896
• Additional Information: Authors' accepted manuscript of: Fagan M.J., Ell S.R., Gilbert J.M., Sarrazin E., Chapman P.M. Development of a (silent) speech recognition system for patients following laryngectomy. Medical Engineering and Physics, Volume 30, Issue 4, May 2008