Descriptor: Voice Pre-Processing and Quality Assessment Dataset (VPQAD)

Material: No período de 23 de fevereiro de 1999 a junho de 2000 foram estudados 23 pacientes submetidos à laringectomia total que receberam a prótese traqueoesofágica do tipo Blom-Singer Indeweling Low Presure, sendo 22 pacientes do sexo masculino, com faixa etária variando de 40 a 80 anos. O tempo de acompanhamento variou de 150 a 462 dias. Um paciente era do estádio clínico I, com comprometimento da comissura posterior; um, do estádio II, com lesão na subglote; 13, do estádio III; e sete do IV. Forma de estudo: Prospectivo clínico não randomizado. Método: A prótese foi locada concomitante à laringectomia em sete pacientes; secundariamente, com anestesia geral, em cinco; e, por endoscopia digestiva alta, sob sedação e anestesia local, em quatorze. Foram estudadas as complicações decorrentes da colocação e uso da prótese vocal, avaliação da qualidade da voz e da inteligibilidade de fala, utilizando parâmetro perceptivo-auditivo, antes e depois da fonoterapia e do tempo necessário para reabilitação vocal. Resultados: Houve três complicações pós-operatórias relacionadas com procedimento cirúrgico terapêutico, que impossibilitaram a reabilitação vocal; dos vinte possíveis de serem reabilitados com a prótese, dezoito se reabilitaram com índice de 90% de sucesso. O tempo médio para reabilitação variou de um a 65 dias. Conclusão: Concluímos que as complicações decorrentes da colocação e uso da prótese não inviabilizaram o sucesso do método; o tempo médio para aquisição da voz foi de sete dias; a qualidade vocal e a inteligibilidade de fala apresentaram melhora após a realização da fonoterapia, sem diferença estatística significativa; e a colocação secundária da prótese vocal, utilizando nova técnica, por endoscopia digestiva alta, mostrou-se mais eficaz em relação às técnicas convencionais.

Assessment of voice quality: Current state-of-the-art.

Effect of Age and Gender on Acoustic Voice Quality Index Across Lifespan: A Cross-sectional Study in Indian Population

Pediatric dysphonia can be categorized by the vibratory source used for voicing: the glottal vibratory source (GVS) and supraglottal vibratory source (SGVS). While voice quality assessment is integral to clinical voice care, there is limited research to support the direct adoption of tools developed for adult voices in the assessment of pediatric voices, particularly given the potential differences in vibratory sources. The study aimed to determine the primary voice quality dimensions in children with GVS and SGVS via multidimensional scaling. Sustained /ɑ/ phonations from 15 children with GVS and 15 children with SGVS representing a wide range of dysphonia severity were selected. Fifteen listeners participated in a pairwise comparison task, rating the perceived similarity of voice quality between stimuli pairs. Averaged perceptual distances between stimuli were analyzed using a PROXSCAL model to determine the optimal multidimensional model. To interpret each resulting dimension, auditory-perceptual and objective measures of voice quality were obtained. The dominant perceptual dimension in both GVS and SGVS voices was related to signal periodicity, which was associated with perceived hoarseness and overall dysphonia severity. Other perceptual dimensions obtained were strongly correlated with breathiness, roughness, and strain, commonly assessed in adult dysphonia. Roughness and strain strongly characterized the perceptual dimension distinguishing the two vibratory sources. The perceptual organization of pediatric dysphonia shares similarities with adults, and perceptual features related to roughness and strain characterize SGVSs.

The aim of this study is to explore voice quality modifications in laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) disease and to understand better the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the development of communicative disability. Biological Abstracts, BioMed Central, Cochrane database, PubMed and Scopus were assessed for subject headings using the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses) recommendations. Relevant studies published between January 1990 and December 2015 describing the evaluation of voice quality in LPR disease were retrieved. Issues of clinical relevance, such as LPR diagnosis method, treatment efficacy and outcomes, were evaluated for each study. We determined the grade of recommendation for each publication according to the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine evidence levels. The search identified 145 publications, of which 25 studies met the inclusion criteria for a total of 1483 LPR patients. Data were extracted by 2 independent physicians who identified 16 trials with a IIb evidence level, 7 trials with a IIa evidence level and 2 RCTs with a Ib evidence level where 4 patient-based instruments and 5 clinician-based instruments were used. The main voice assessment outcomes reported were hoarseness assessments by physicians or patients, followed by acoustic parameters; 15 and 14 articles, respectively, demonstrated significant improvements in subjective and objective voice assessments after treatment. The methodology used to measure acoustic parameters (i.e. sustained vowel duration, the sample portion choice for measurement, etc.) varied from one study to another. The majority of studies indicated that voice quality assessments (especially acoustic parameters) remain an interesting outcome to measure the effectiveness of treatment, but further studies using standardised and transparent methodology to measure acoustic parameters are necessary to confirm the place of each tool in the LPR disease evaluation.

Nonlinear Dynamical Analysis of Laryngeal, Esophageal, and Tracheoesophageal Speech of Cantonese

Validation of the Acoustic Voice Quality Index in the Japanese Language

The principle of ‘working with, not on’ people with disabilities is widely espoused within inclusive research, yet historically such opportunities have not been fully realized. This paper speaks from the perspective of users of health, rehabilitation, assistive technology services, and the academics with whom they collaborate. We draw on Australia’s Disability Inclusive Research Principles to reflect on the practice of inclusive research across the areas of assistive technology policy, digital information, and health access, as well as the co-design of allied health resources. We consider and provide examples of how power and knowledge play out in health and rehabilitation, the developing discourse around consumer co-design and co-production, and the challenges of enacting inclusive research. This paper is about shared power in the mechanisms of research production and our journeys towards it. Engaging in inclusive research has enabled us to assume roles beyond the binary of the ‘researcher’ and the ‘researched’. We conclude by proposing an adaptation of the ladder of participation for inclusive research.

Dysphonia in preterm children: Assessing incidence and response to treatment

Benefits of intensive speech treatment have been documented for a range of speech signs in English speakers with Parkinson's Disease (PD). However, the answer to a critical question that whether the same treatment benefits speech variables including intelligibility in Mandarin speakers is still unclear. In order to develop a targeted speech treatment for Mandarin speakers with PD, we reviewed the efficacy of intensive speech treatment to improve vocal loudness and functional communication and discuss possible explanations for efficacy on Mandarin speakers with PD. Literatures about intensive speech treatment for Mandarin speakers with PD were retrieved from PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang and Weipu Database for Chinese Technical Periodicals (VIP) Database. Search strategy was (voice therapy OR speech therapy OR voice treatment OR speech treatment OR voice training OR speech training OR voice rehabilitation OR speech rehabilitation OR Lee Silverman voice treatment OR intensive speech treatment) and (Parkinson's disease) and (Mandarin speakers OR Chinese OR Chinese people). Five randomized controlled trials were selected and possible explanations for efficacy on individuals with PD are discussed. Further research directions are suggested. The existing evidence from treatment efficacy studies of intensive speech treatment provides support for improving vocal loudness, speech intelligibility, pitch and rate in Mandarin speakers with PD. Our future research will continue to work to conduct a large sample multicenter randomized controlled trial to provide high quality evidence and understand the basic mechanisms accompanying treatment-related change.

In this article, we present a meta-analysis of research examining visibility of disability. In interrogating the issue of visibility and invisibility in the design of assistive technologies, we open a discussion about how perceptions surrounding disability can be probed through an examination of visibility and how these tensions do, and perhaps should, influence assistive technology design and research.

The study of quality reception of audio signals in auditoriums is relevant because this fact determines the user's Quality of Experience (QoE). This paper presents experimental results regarding to the impact of the linear phase variations on the voice quality index. Speech files are played using different phases, and each audio transmitted is individually saved. Later, the original and the transmitted speech files are compared using a voice quality assessment metric. Experimental results demonstrate that the phase-angle is highly correlated with the voice quality index; therefore, a relation function between the angle and the quality index is proposed.

The use of technology for social connectivity and achieving engagement goals is increasingly essential to the overall well-being of our rapidly ageing population. While much of the extant literature has focused on home automation and indoor remote health monitoring; there is a growing literature that finds personal health and overall well-being improves when physical activities are conducted outdoors. This study presents a review of possible innovative and assistive eHealth technologies suitable for smart therapeutic and rehabilitation outdoor spaces for older persons. The article also presents key performance metrics required of eHealth technologies to ensure robust, timely and reliable biometric data transfer between patients in a therapeutic landscape environment and respective medical centres. A literature review of relevant publications with a primary focus of integrating sensors and eHealth technologies in outdoor spaces to collect and transfer data from the elderly demographic who engage such built landscapes to appropriate stakeholders was conducted. A content analysis was carried out to synthesize outcomes of the literature review. The study finds that research in assistive eHealth technologies and interfaces for outdoor therapeutic spaces is in its nascent stages and has limited generalisability. The level of technology uptake and readiness for smart outdoor spaces is still developing and is currently being outpaced by the growth of elderly fitness zones in public spaces. Further research is needed to explore those eHealth technologies with interactive feedback mechanisms that are suitable for outdoor therapeutic environments.

The design and collection of COSINE, a multi-microphone in situ speech corpus recorded in noisy environments

This study examines the relationship of voice quality and speech-based personality assessment of Finnish-speaking female speakers. Five Finnish-speaking female subjects recorded a text passage with eight different vocal qualities. Samples that passed the preselection test for the voice qualities were played to 50 Finnish-speaking listeners, who reported speaker impressions on a scale of 18 opposite trait pairs. Voices produced with forward placement received assessments of femininity and friendliness. Readers speaking with backward placement were considered less feminine, while breathy voice evoked assessments of emotionality and implausibility. Tense phonation as well as creakiness, nasality, and denasality gave rise to numerous negative notions. The results suggest that voice stereotypes have both internationality and cultural dependency.