Instrumental and Perceptual Evidence for Tracheoesophageal Speech

1996 ◽  
Vol 83 (2) ◽  
pp. 658-658
Author(s):  
Sakina S. Drummond ◽  
Kathy Krueger ◽  
Jess Dancer ◽  
Gretchen Spring

With 8 men, two methods of alaryngeal speech production, tracheoesophageal and electrolaryngeal, were compared on perceptual and acoustic measures of speech intelligibility. Measures consistently identified the tracheoesophageal speech as superior to electrolaryngeal speech.

1984 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 202-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne Robbins ◽  
Hilda B. Fisher ◽  
Eric C. Blom ◽  
Mark I. Singer

Acoustic characteristics of two types of alaryngeal speech were quantified and compared to normal speech production. High-quality audio recordings were obtained from 15 subjects who had undergone the tracheoesophageal puncture method of postlaryngectomy vocal rehabilitation (Singer & Blom, 1980), 15 esophageal speakers, and 15 laryngeal talkers as they sustained the vowel/a/and read a standard paragraph. Ten frequency, 7 intensity, and 13 duration variables were quantified. Central tendency and variability measures of frequency and duration for the three speaker groups indicated that tracheoesophageal speech is more similar to normal speech than is esophageal speech. Intensity measures indicated that tracheoesophageal speech is more intense than normal and esophageal speech.


1985 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Greer Clark

Past investigations of alaryngeal speech intelligibility have focused on comparative intelligibility as perceived by young normally hearing adults. However, the spouses and social companions of laryngectomees may have significantly different auditory capabilities compared to young listeners. This report presents a comparison of alaryngeal and laryngeal speech identification performance for a group of young normally hearing listeners and a group of older adult listeners representative of the age of the laryngectomee's social companions. The speech signals investigated included normal laryngeal speech, artificial larynx speech, traditional esophageal speech, and tracheoesophageal speech. The results obtained reveal not only differences in speech signals but also a difference in the proficiency of speech perception for the two groups, favoring the younger listeners. The results of the speech identification measures in the presence of auditory competition revealed greatest intelligibility for the artificial larynx speech signal and poorest for the tracheoesophageal speech signal.


1996 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Halpin ◽  
Barbara Herrmann ◽  
Margaret Whearty

The family described in this article provides an unusual opportunity to relate findings from genetic, histological, electrophysiological, psychophysical, and rehabilitative investigation. Although the total number evaluated is large (49), the known, living affected population is smaller (14), and these are spread from age 20 to age 59. As a result, the findings described above are those of a large-scale case study. Clearly, more data will be available through longitudinal study of the individuals documented in the course of this investigation but, given the slow nature of the progression in this disease, such studies will be undertaken after an interval of several years. The general picture presented to the audiologist who must rehabilitate these cases is that of a progressive cochlear degeneration that affects only thresholds at first, and then rapidly diminishes speech intelligibility. The expected result is that, after normal language development, the patient may accept hearing aids well, encouraged by the support of the family. Performance and satisfaction with the hearing aids is good, until the onset of the speech intelligibility loss, at which time the patient will encounter serious difficulties and may reject hearing aids as unhelpful. As the histological and electrophysiological results indicate, however, the eighth nerve remains viable, especially in the younger affected members, and success with cochlear implantation may be expected. Audiologic counseling efforts are aided by the presence of role models and support from the other affected members of the family. Speech-language pathology services were not considered important by the members of this family since their speech production developed normally and has remained very good. Self-correction of speech was supported by hearing aids and cochlear implants (Case 5’s speech production was documented in Perkell, Lane, Svirsky, & Webster, 1992). These patients received genetic counseling and, due to the high penetrance of the disease, exhibited serious concerns regarding future generations and the hope of a cure.


1984 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 577-585 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne Robbins

This investigation was designed to determine if a multivariate acoustic classifier could effectively discriminate group membership for 15 tracheoesophageal, esophageal, and laryngeal speakers. Seven intensity, 10 frequency, and 13 duration measures were quantified from recorded voice samples. Using principal components analysis, a subset of the 13 least redundant acoustic and temporal measures was systematically selected from the 30 original measures and analyzed singly and jointly in terms of its ability to discriminate among the three speaker groups. Discriminant function analysis revealed perfect categorization of the 45 subjects, indicating that the three methods of speech production are acoustically and temporally distinct from one another. The relative importance of the selected variables which, in combination, significantly differentiated the three groups is discussed in relation to physiologic differences among groups and clinical application for postlaryngectomy vocal rehabilitation.


2005 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kris Tjaden ◽  
Gregory E. Wilding

The present study compared patterns of anticipatory coarticulation for utterances produced in habitual, loud, and slow conditions by 17 individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS), 12 individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD), and 15 healthy controls. Coarticulation was inferred from vowel F2 frequencies and consonant first-moment coefficients. Rate-related changes in coarticulation differed depending on the particular phonetic events in an utterance. In some instances, the slow condition was associated with stronger anticipatory effects, but in other instances the slow condition was associated with weaker anticipatory effects, relative to other speaking conditions. In contrast, coarticulatory patterns for the loud and habitual conditions typically did not differ. Coarticulatory patterns also tended to be similar among speaker groups within each condition. Finally, when acoustic measures of coarticulation differed among speaking conditions, the direction and magnitude of the effect generally were similar for healthy controls, speakers with MS, and speakers with PD. These results are consistent with studies suggesting mostly preserved patterns of coarticulation for speakers with mild to moderate dysarthria, as well as research indicating only subtle coordination deficits for individuals with dysarthria. The finding that increased loudness had a negligible effect on coarticulation also appears to be at odds with the suggestion that increased loudness stimulates orofacial coordination for speakers with dysarthria, although studies including speakers exhibiting coordination impairments at habitual speaking rates would provide a stronger test of this suggestion. Lastly, the fact that speaking condition similarly affected acoustic measures of anticipatory coarticulation for all speaker groups suggests the feasibility of applying theories and models of speech production for neurologically normal talkers to the study of dysarthria.


2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 882-896 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phoebe Natzke ◽  
Ashley Sakash ◽  
Tristan Mahr ◽  
Katherine C. Hustad

Purpose Accurate measurement of speech intelligibility is essential for children with speech production deficits, but wide variability exists in the measures and protocols used. The current study sought to examine relationships among measures of speech intelligibility and the capacity of different measures to capture change over time. Method Forty-five children with cerebral palsy (CP) with and without speech motor impairment were observed at ages 6, 7, and 8 years. The speech performance of each child was rated using four measures at each time point: standardized articulation test scores, multiword intelligibility scores obtained from naïve listeners, parent ratings of intelligibility, and percent intelligible utterances obtained from language transcripts. We analyzed the correlations of measures within each age and within three different severity groups, and we analyzed how these measures changed year over year in each severity group. Results For children with CP who have mild and moderate speech deficits, different measures of speech production were weakly associated, and for children with CP with severe speech impairment, these measures showed stronger associations. The four measures also differed in their ability to capture change over time. Finally, results from standardized assessments of articulation were not found to inform overall speech intelligibility for children with mild and moderate speech deficits. Conclusions Results suggest that speech production is not fully described by any single clinical measure. In order to adequately describe functional speaking abilities and to capture change over time, multiple levels of measurement are required.


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