With ageing, human voices undergo several changes which are typically characterized by increased hoarseness and changes in articulation patterns. In this study, we have examined the effect on Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) and found that the Word Error Rates (WER) on older voices is about 9% absolute higher compared to those of adult voices. Subsequently, we compared several voice source pa...

BACKGROUND Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) is the backflow of stomach contents above upper esophageal sphincter, into the pharynx, larynx, and upper aerodigestive system. OBJECTIVES In this study, effects of omeprazole over voice quality in muscle tension dysphonia with laryngopharyngeal reflux was ınvestigated. PATIENTS AND METHODS Nine patients, 7 males and 2 females, aged between 27-43 (m...

The glottal to noise excitation ratio (GNE) is an acoustic measure designed to assess the amount of noise in a pulse train generated by the oscillation of the vocal folds. So far its properties have only been studied for synthesized signals, where it was found to be independent of variations of fundamental frequency (jitter) and amplitude (shimmer). On the other hand, other features designed fo...

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS To investigate voice change as a complication after uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) with or without radiofrequency tongue base reduction (RTBR) in patients with obstructive sleep apnea. STUDY DESIGN Before and after study. METHODS Twenty-two patients with suspected velopharyngeal collapse only underwent uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP group). Twenty-five patients with...

BACKGROUND acoustic vocal characteristics of young male adults. AIM to characterize the acoustic measurements of the glottal source of young male adults with normal voices and larynx and to compare these results to the standard measurements proposed by the software used for this assessment. METHOD 25 young male individuals (20 to 40 years), who presented normal voices and larynx, were selec...

Objective. Autologous fat injection laryngoplasty is ineffective for some patients with iatrogenic vocal fold paralysis, and additional laryngeal framework surgery is often required. An acoustically measurable outcome predictor for lipoinjection laryngoplasty would assist phonosurgeons in formulating treatment strategies. Methods. Seventeen thyroid surgery patients with unilateral vocal fold pa...

This paper presents an algorithm which works with oesophageal voices in order to evaluate their quality by means of the automatic calculation of shimmer. The evaluation requires a novel and specific processing for the detection of the periodicity cycles and instants in order to calculate amplitude perturbations of vocal signals. The designed algorithm performs the calculus in an automatic way w...

The Spatial Heterodyne Imager for Mesospheric Radicals (SHIMMER), which is based on a new interferometric technique called Spatial Heterodyne Spectroscopy (SHS), flew on the Space Shuttle Atlantis mission STS-112 in October 2002. SHS has the advantages of high throughput, high spectral resolution, small size, low mass, all in a rugged instrument with no moving optical components. The SHS proof-...

Voices can be deliberately disguised by means of human imitation or voice conversion. The question arises to what extent they can be modified by using either method. In the current paper, a set of speaker identification experiments are conducted; first, analysing some prosodic features extracted from voices of professional impersonators attempting to mimic a target voice and, second, using both...

We describe the design, fabrication, and testing of a monolithic interferometer consisting entirely of optically contacted fused-silica optical elements that are assembled, adjusted, and permanently bonded in place. The interferometer is part of a spatial heterodyne spectrometer (SHS) [SHIMMER (Spatial Heterodyne Imager for Mesospheric Radicals)] that will be used for near-ultraviolet high-spec...