Identification of Traumatic Brain Injury using Abnormal Speech Audio Processing (TBI-ASAP)

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a constant risk for soldiers in the military work and combat environment. From vehicle accidents to explosions, a soldier can experience TBI over a range of conditions with widely varying degrees of severity. While the diagnosis of moderate to severe TBI is usually straightforward, mild TBI events are hard to identify, diagnose, and monitor over time. ViGYAN is developing a suite of advanced signal processing techniques for the identification of abnormal speech audio patterns as a marker for TBI events. The TBI-ASAP methodology will leverage advanced signal analysis, statistical process control techniques, and modeling with wavelet decomposition/synthesis. These methods are currently used successfully by ViGYAN in the analyses of large aerodynamic datasets. Applied in conjunction with expertise and data from the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Chronic Effects of Neurotrauma Consortium (CENC), the use of these methods will be specifically customized, optimized, and employed based on expected effects of TBI on speech signals; development and validation of an early prototype of the technique will be based on relevant fresh data obtained in ViGYANs research laboratory and from the VCU Emergent Clinical Trial and Observation Recruitment (VECTOR) program. These TBI-ASAP techniques will be implemented in a range of devices to facilitate the rapid screening and identification of a TBI event as well as facilitate ongoing monitoring and quantification of TBI recovery. ViGYAN will document and correlate other abnormal speech patterns caused by non-TBI brain pathologies to assure identification of TBI-only diagnoses.