Speech Driven by Artificial Larynx: Potential Advancement Using Synthetic Pitch Contours

Abstract Background Speech impairment occurs in 34-70% of head and neck oncologic patients. Management of this impairment is through surgical and nonsurgical methods. Progress in voice rehabilitation following total laryngectomy has over the last 30 years, made an enormous difference in the whole concept of the management of laryngeal cancers. Objective To explore the outcome of different options of voice rehabilitation after total laryngectomy and the advantages and disadvantages of each method in order to improve the quality of life of laryngectomized patients and the suggestion of future directions for research. Patients and Methods The Aim of this work is to provide cumulative data about the efficacy and safety of the outcome of different modalities of voice rehabilitation following total laryngectomy. This review was done using standard methodology outlined in the Cochrane Handbook and reported the findings in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Metaanalyses (PRISMA) statement guidelines. Results Voice rehabilitation is one of the most important determinants of the quality of life after total laryngectomy. Recent advances in prosthetic voice devices have made such devices the gold standard for voice rehabilitation. They are thus preferred and used more often than old methods (esophageal speech and artificial larynx). Conclusion Although, no single method is considered to be the best for every patient, the tracheoesophageal puncture has become the most preferred method in the past decade. But it is not always possible in all patients, the results of this study indicate that ES, when achievable, is a viable option that should be considered by surgeons when making intervention decisions on patients, and should be revived when indicated. But we need much more studies.

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Clatter Reduction for Electronic Artificial Larynx

International Journal of Speech Technology ◽

10.1007/s10772-006-6892-1 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. 271-281 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Thorsten M. Buzug ◽

Michael Strothjohann

Keyword(s):

Artificial Larynx

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On Older Listeners' Ability to Perceive Dynamic Pitch

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/2015_jslhr-h-15-0228 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 59 (3) ◽

pp. 572-582 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Jing Shen ◽

Richard Wright ◽

Pamela E. Souza

Keyword(s):

Speech Recognition ◽

Interindividual Variability ◽

Pitch Perception ◽

Natural Speech ◽

Pitch Contour ◽

Older Individuals ◽

Pitch Contours ◽

Pitch Patterns ◽

Better Than

PurposeNatural speech comes with variation in pitch, which serves as an important cue for speech recognition. The present study investigated older listeners' dynamic pitch perception with a focus on interindividual variability. In particular, we asked whether some of the older listeners' inability to perceive dynamic pitch stems from the higher susceptibility to the interference from formant changes.MethodA total of 22 older listeners and 21 younger controls with at least near-typical hearing were tested on dynamic pitch identification and discrimination tasks using synthetic monophthong and diphthong vowels.ResultsThe older listeners' ability to detect changes in pitch varied substantially, even when musical and linguistic experiences were controlled. The influence of formant patterns on dynamic pitch perception was evident in both groups of listeners. Overall, strong pitch contours (i.e., more dynamic) were perceived better than weak pitch contours (i.e., more monotonic), particularly with rising pitch patterns.ConclusionsThe findings are in accordance with the literature demonstrating some older individuals' difficulty perceiving dynamic pitch cues in speech. Moreover, they suggest that this problem may be prominent when the dynamic pitch is carried by natural speech and when the pitch contour is not strong.

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