Enhancement of female esophageal and tracheoesophageal speech

Abstract

Qi [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 88, 1228-1235 (1990)] has demonstrated that (1) linear predictive (LP) methods can be used to separate vocal tract transfer functions from source functions of vowels produced by alaryngeal talkers and that (2) vowels synthesized with reconstructed transfer functions and totally synthetic voicing excitation sources have improved source-related properties over those present in the original vowels. Here, an extension of this work which is directed to the general goal of developing systems (devices) to enhance the quality of alaryngeal speech is reported. The specific goal of the present project was to determine whether speech, i.e., words spoken by female esophageal and tracheoesophageal talkers, could be enhanced by means of LP-based analysis and synthesis methods. Words spoken by four female alaryngeal talkers were analyzed and synthesized. A perceptual evaluation was completed to permit the quality of the synthetic and the original words to be compared. Listeners generally preferred to listen to the synthesized words, indicating that alaryngeal speech enhancement was accomplished.

Application of speech conversion to alaryngeal speech enhancement

“…Alaryageal speech sounds rough, hoarse, and creaky. A system that converts alaryngeal speech into normal speech could be useful to enhance communication for alaryngeal talkers [1], [2].…”

“…To enhance the quality of alaryngeal speech, Qi attempted replacing the voicing source of alaryngeal speech using a linear predictive coding (LPC) technique [1], [2]. There are two basic assumptions under these early studies: i) articulatory-based acoustic features of alaryngeal speech are not significantly modified by laryngectomy, and ii) vocal tract transfer functions of alaryngeal speech could be accurately determined using LPC analysis.…”

In vitro evaluation of a double‐membrane–based voice‐producing element for laryngectomized patients

“…The mean fundamental frequency of the esophageal voice is usually 60 to 90 Hz. [4][5][6][7] This low frequency causes problems especially for women, since in normal female laryngeal voice production this frequency has a mean value of approximately 210 Hz. But also for males, with normally a mean fundamental frequency of about 120 Hz, 8,9 the esophageal voice is rather low-pitched.…”

Tracheoesophageal speech: A dedicated objective acoustic assessment

“…This information can be used by speech therapists/laryngologists for various purposes: i) to focus on specific aspects of the voice (as highlighted by the proposed assessment), ii) to compare various voice rehabilitation approaches, iii) to keep a follow-up of the patient. Secondly, the knowledge of these artefacts is essential when designing speaking aid systems aiming at resynthesizing an enhanced version of TE speech (as in (Qi et al, 1995) or (Del Pozo and Young, 2006)). Indeed, in order to improve the naturalness and intelligibility of TE speech, developed methods have to integrate procedures to alleviate such artefacts.…”