DEVELOPMENT A SPEECH AID TO REHABILITATE LARYNGECTOMEES

THIS PROJECT IS PART OF A LONGER TERM EFFORT TO DEVELOP A COMMERCIAL PRODUCT TO ALLOW LARYNGECTOMEES TO REGAIN FULLY NATURAL SPEECH WITH THE SHORTEST REHABILITATION TIME. THE EFFORT TO DATE HAS PRODUCED HARDWARE REPLICATING THE LARYNX FUNCTION IN SPEECH WITH A GOOD QUALITY OF NATURALNESS. THIS PROJECT WILL DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF IMPROVING THE LARYNGECTOMEE'S CONTROL OF THE NEW ARTIFICIAL LARYNX FOR IMPROVED SPEECH QUALITY AND FASTER REHABILITATION. THERE ARE ABOUT 40,000 LARYNGECTOMEES IN THE UNITED STATES WITH 4,000 LARYNX REMOVAL OPERATIONS PERFORMED ANNUALLY. THE METHODOLOGY WILL CONSIST OF SELECTING A GROUP OF FIFTEEN LARYNGECTOMEES DIVIDED INTO THREE GROUPS OF FIVE AND PROVIDING THE NEWLY DEVELOPED LARYNX TO USE OVER A SIX MONTH PERIOD. TRAINING IS PROVIDED. THREE VARIATIONS OF THE CONTROL UNIT WILL BE PROVIDED TO TEST WHICH OF THE THREE UNITS ALLOWS THE LARYNGECTOMEE TO PRODUCE THE MOST NATURAL SPEECH WITH THE SHORTEST LEARNING TIME. CARE WILL BE TAKEN TO ELIMINATE SYSTEMATIC ERRORS IN THE OBSERVATIONS OF SPEECH QUALITY AND LEARNING RATE.