Short-Term Stability Measures for the Evaluation of Vocal Quality

1990 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 324-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Feijoo ◽  
C. Hernández
Keyword(s):  
Voice Quality ◽  
Normal Subjects ◽  
Acoustic Measures ◽  
Perceptual Evaluation ◽  
Voice Signal ◽  
Clinical Diagnoses ◽  
Vocal Quality ◽  
Signal Tone ◽  
Processing Techniques

The vocal quality of 64 normal subjects and 57 subjects suffering various degrees of glottal cancer was investigated using acoustic measures of six different aspects of the voice signal: tone period perturbation, amplitude perturbation, waveform perturbation, vocal noise, spectral periodicity and spectral distortion. The measures were estimated taking the glottal cycle as temporal reference unit to make the influence of the differences in tone period from one person to another as low as possible. The measures were evaluated with regard to (a) their ability to discriminate between healthy and sick subjects, and (b) their correlation with the perceptual evaluation of four trained listeners. The results suggest that signal processing techniques are unsatisfactory for clinical diagnoses but useful for monitoring voice quality.

scholarly journals Self-perception, complaints and vocal quality among undergraduate students enrolled in a Pedagogy course

CoDAS ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 285-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eliana Maria Gradim Fabron ◽  
Simone Fiuza Regaçone ◽  
Viviane Cristina de Castro Marino ◽  
Marina Ludovico Mastria ◽  
Suely Mayumi Motonaga ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Voice Quality ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Self Perception ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Perceptual Evaluation ◽  
Vocal Quality ◽  
The Voice

PURPOSE: To compare the vocal self-perception and vocal complaints reported by two groups of students of the pedagogy course (freshmen and graduates); to relate the vocal self-perception to the vocal complaints for these groups; and to compare the voice quality of the students from these groups through perceptual auditory assessment and acoustic analysis. METHODS: Initially, 89 students from the pedagogy course answered a questionnaire about self-perceived voice quality and vocal complaints. In a second phase, auditory-perceptual evaluation and acoustic analyses of 48 participants were made through voice recordings of sustained vowel emission and poem reading. RESULTS: The most reported vocal complaints were fatigue while using the voice, sore throat, effort to speak, irritation or burning in the throat, hoarseness, tightness in the neck, and variations of voice throughout the day. There was a higher occurrence of complaints from graduates than from freshmen, with significant differences for four of the nine complaints. It was also possible to observe the relationship between vocal self-perception and complaints reported by these students. No significant differences were observed in the results of auditory-perceptual evaluation; however, some graduates had their voices evaluated with higher severity of deviation of normalcy. During acoustic analysis no difference was observed between groups. CONCLUSION: The increase in vocal demand by the graduates may have caused the greatest number and diversity of vocal complaints, and several of them are related to the self-assessment of voice quality. The auditory-perceptual evaluation and acoustic analysis showed no deviations in their voice.

Measuring Vocal Fatigue in Sports Coaches

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Kathy Connaughton ◽  
Irena Yanushevskaya
Keyword(s):  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Voice Quality ◽  
Professional Sports ◽  
Muscle Adaptation ◽  
Voice Change ◽  
Acoustic Measures ◽  
Perceptual Evaluation ◽  
Coaching Session ◽  
Sports Coaches ◽  
Voice Use

Objective: This study explores the immediate impact of prolonged voice use by professional sports coaches. Method: Speech samples including sustained phonation of vowel /a/ and a short read passage were collected from two professional sports coaches. The audio recordings were made within an hour before and after a coaching session, over three sessions. Perceptual evaluation of voice quality was done using the GRBAS scale. The speech samples were subsequently analyzed using Praat. The acoustic measures included fundamental frequency (f0), jitter, shimmer, Harmonics-to-Noise ratio and Cepstral Peak Prominence. Main results: The results of perceptual and acoustic analysis suggest a slight shift towards a tenser phonation post-coaching session, which is a likely consequence of laryngeal muscle adaptation to prolonged voice use. This tendency was similar in sustained vowels and connected speech. Conclusion: Acoustic measures used in this study can be useful to capture the voice change post-coaching session. It is desirable, however, that more sophisticated and robust and at the same time intuitive and easy-to-use tools for voice assessment and monitoring be made available to clinicians and professional voice users.

scholarly journals A Randomized Controlled Trial of Two Semi-Occluded Vocal Tract Voice Therapy Protocols

2015 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 535-549 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mara R. Kapsner-Smith ◽  
Eric J. Hunter ◽  
Kimberly Kirkham ◽  
Karin Cox ◽  
Ingo R. Titze
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Vocal Tract ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Voice Quality ◽  
Voice Handicap Index ◽  
Voice Therapy ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Perceptual Evaluation ◽  
Therapy Program

PurposeAlthough there is a long history of use of semi-occluded vocal tract gestures in voice therapy, including phonation through thin tubes or straws, the efficacy of phonation through tubes has not been established. This study compares results from a therapy program on the basis of phonation through a flow-resistant tube (FRT) with Vocal Function Exercises (VFE), an established set of exercises that utilize oral semi-occlusions.MethodTwenty subjects (16 women, 4 men) with dysphonia and/or vocal fatigue were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 treatment conditions: (a) immediate FRT therapy, (b) immediate VFE therapy, (c) delayed FRT therapy, or (d) delayed VFE therapy. Subjects receiving delayed therapy served as a no-treatment control group.ResultsVoice Handicap Index (Jacobson et al., 1997) scores showed significant improvement for both treatment groups relative to the no-treatment group. Comparison of the effect sizes suggests FRT therapy is noninferior to VFE in terms of reduction in Voice Handicap Index scores. Significant reductions in Roughness on the Consensus Auditory-Perceptual Evaluation of Voice (Kempster, Gerratt, Verdolini Abbott, Barkmeier-Kraemer, & Hillman, 2009) were found for the FRT subjects, with no other significant voice quality findings.ConclusionsVFE and FRT therapy may improve voice quality of life in some individuals with dysphonia. FRT therapy was noninferior to VFE in improving voice quality of life in this study.

The Effects of Endoscopic Sinus Surgery on Voice Characteristics in Chronic Rhinosinusitis Patients

2019 ◽  
Vol 128 (12) ◽  
pp. 1129-1133
Author(s):  
Danny B. Jandali ◽  
Ashwin Ganti ◽  
Inna A. Husain ◽  
Pete S. Batra ◽  
Bobby A. Tajudeen
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Chronic Rhinosinusitis ◽  
Endoscopic Sinus Surgery ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Voice Quality ◽  
Upper Airway ◽  
Sinus Surgery ◽  
Perceptual Evaluation ◽  
Snot 22

Objectives: Functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) is a standard treatment modality for patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) who have failed appropriate medical therapy. However, FESS entails modification of the upper airway tract that may alter phonatory resonance and produce voice changes. The effects of FESS on postoperative voice characteristics in patients with CRS have yet to be quantitatively assessed. Methods: Patients with severe CRS who underwent FESS at a tertiary care referral center between May and October 2017 were prospectively enrolled. The Consensus Auditory-Perceptual Evaluation of Voice (CAPE-V) and the Voice Handicap Index (VHI) were used to quantitatively evaluate voice characteristics and quality of life, respectively. Preoperative and postoperative CAPE-V and VHI scores were compared with postoperative scores for each patient. Sino-Nasal Outcome Test (SNOT-22) scores were also obtained to assess changes in patient symptoms. Results: 18 CRS patients undergoing FESS were enrolled. The average preoperative Lund-Mackay score was 14, indicating baseline severe CRS. Postoperative assessments demonstrated a statistically significant decrease in CAPE-V (45-27, p = .005) and VHI (10-4.7, p < .001) scores. These correlated with a statistically significant decrease in SNOT-22 scores (42-13, p < .001). Conclusions: Patients with CRS experience a significant improvement in voice characteristics and vocal quality of life following FESS. Furthermore, this appears to correlate with a significant decrease in self-reported disease severity. These findings may augment the discussion of potential benefits of FESS to a new potential domain for voice quality.

A New Computational Tool for Voice Analysis Based on FFT, Wavelet Transform, and Spectrogram

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathalee C. de Almeida ◽  
Jannayna D. Barros ◽  
Heliana B. Soares ◽  
Adriano de A. Bresolin ◽  
Ana Maria G. Guerreiro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Voice Quality ◽  
Digital Signal ◽  
Computational Tool ◽  
Voice Analysis ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Processing Techniques ◽  
The Voice ◽  
Signal Processing Techniques

Digital signal processing techniques have been used by acoustic analysis to evaluate the voice quality of the patient, due to the simplicity and non-invasive procedures for measurements.

The Dysphonia Severity Index

2000 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 796-809 ◽  
Author(s):  
Floris L. Wuyts ◽  
Marc S. De Bodt ◽  
Geert Molenberghs ◽  
Marc Remacle ◽  
Louis Heylen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Multivariate Analysis ◽  
Voice Quality ◽  
Severity Index ◽  
Voice Handicap Index ◽  
Objective Measures ◽  
Maximum Phonation Time ◽  
Vocal Quality ◽  
The Voice ◽  
Weighted Combination

The vocal quality of a patient is modeled by means of a Dysphonia Severity Index (DSI), which is designed to establish an objective and quantitative correlate of the perceived vocal quality. The DSI is based on the weighted combination of the following selected set of voice measurements: highest frequency (F 0 -High in Hz), lowest intensity (I-Low in dB), maximum phonation time (MPT in s), and jitter (%). The DSI is derived from a multivariate analysis of 387 subjects with the goal of describing, purely based on objective measures, the perceived voice quality. It is constructed as DSI=0.13 x MPT + 0.0053 x F 0 -High – 0.26 x I-Low – 1.18 x Jitter (%) + 12.4. The DSI for perceptually normal voices equals +5 and for severely dysphonic voices –5. The more negative the patient's index, the worse is his or her vocal quality. As such, the DSI is especially useful to evaluate therapeutic evolution of dysphonic patients. Additionally, there is a high correlation between the DSI and the Voice Handicap Index score.

Results of Fascial Augmentation in Unilateral Vocal Fold Paralysis

2002 ◽  
Vol 111 (6) ◽  
pp. 523-529 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petri Reijonen ◽  
Sari Lehikoinen-Söderlund ◽  
Heikki Rihkanen
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Fold ◽  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Voice Quality ◽  
Vocal Fold Paralysis ◽  
Unilateral Vocal Fold Paralysis ◽  
Inexpensive Method ◽  
Maximum Phonation Time ◽  
Perceptual Evaluation

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects on voice quality of augmentation by injection of minced fascia in patients with unilateral vocal fold paralysis. Preoperative and postoperative voice samples from 14 patients (6 men and 8 women; mean age, 59 years) were analyzed by computerized acoustic analysis and blinded perceptual evaluation. Statistically significant improvements were seen in perturbation measurements (jitter and shimmer), noise-to-harmonics ratio, and maximum phonation time. A panel of evaluators rated 10 of the 14 postoperative voices as normal or near-normal. Injection laryngoplasty with minced fascia offers a new, effective, well-tolerated, and inexpensive method to medialize a paralyzed vocal fold. The graft seems to survive well, as indicated by good vocal results with a follow-up ranging from 5 to 32 months.

scholarly journals Assessment of Call Voice Quality of GSM Network Operators in 5 Cities in Kwara State

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
K. O. Kadiri ◽  
Samuel Oluwaseun Lawal ◽  
Olawale Saheed Babatunde
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Service ◽  
Network Performance ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Voice Quality ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
International Telecommunication Union ◽  
Perceptual Evaluation ◽  
Gsm Network ◽  
Set Up

This paper evaluates voice quality of four Global System for Mobile (GSM) Communication providers in five selected cities in Kwara State with thoughtfulness of network performance evaluation and the quality of service (QoS) improvement of GSM network system. Three assessment components/parameters which are network accessibility, service retainability and connection quality for evaluating QoS on the network were mainly adopted. The parameters were applied on four GSM networks in the studied areas using customers’ complaints method. Also, a standard method known as Perceptual Evaluation of Speech Quality (PESQ) — (International Telecommunication Union-Telecommunication Standardization Sector) ITU-T standard P.862, used for measuring call voice quality and Mean Opinion Score (MOS) is adopted. The two methods were therefore compared to assess call voice quality of the four GSM networks. The Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) on which the GSM networks were tested include call set-up success rates (CSSR), call drop rate (CDR), call completion success rates (CCSR), handover success rates (HSR) and traffic channel congestion rate (TCHR). The result of the study shows that the Quality of Service of GSM system in the selected cities is unreliable. The study also shows that the GSM network accessibility and retainability in the country are unsatisfactory. However, the call voice quality was observed to be on the peak in these cities across the four network providers. At the end of this manuscript, suggestions are given on how to advance both the Quality of Service and the positive impact of GSM network in the selected areas and the country as a whole.

EMG Biofeedback as a Function of Voice-Quality Change

1987 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 719-724 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herbert F. Schliesser
Keyword(s):  
Voice Quality ◽  
Emg Biofeedback ◽  
Electrode Placement ◽  
Clinical Use ◽  
Surface Electrode ◽  
Quality Change ◽  
Audio Recordings ◽  
Normal Voice ◽  
Vocal Quality

Changes in electromyography (EMG) accompanying changes in voice quality are reported. Audio recordings were obtained from four normal speakers during production of sustained vowels, counting and reading. These were uttered first in a normal voice and then in a voluntarily produced harsh voice. Perceptual ratings of voice quality of these utterances were made and compared to averaged EMG values obtained during the productions. The surface electrode placement remained unchanged over each of the cricothyroid areas for both normal and harsh voice. For one of the speakers, changes in EMG paralleled changes in vocal quality. For the other three, changes in EMG were variable, and sometimes minimal, in comparison to changes in voice. The results are discussed in relation to the clinical use of EMG for voice disorders.

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