Using visual feedback to enhance intonation control with a variable pitch electrolarynx

Noor Al-Zanoon; Vijay Parsa; Philip C Doyle

doi:10.1121/10.0000936

Using visual feedback to enhance intonation control with a variable pitch electrolarynx

J Acoust Soc Am. 2020 Mar;147(3):1802. doi: 10.1121/10.0000936.

Authors

Noor Al-Zanoon¹, Vijay Parsa², Philip C Doyle²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Alberta, 116 Street and 85 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2R3, Canada.
² School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Elborn College, Western University, London, Ontario N6A 3K7, Canada.

PMID: 32237840
DOI: 10.1121/10.0000936

Abstract

This study evaluated the effectiveness of using visual feedback to facilitate pitch control by a speaker using a pressure sensitive onset controlled electrolarynx (EL). This proof-of-concept study was conducted with one healthy adult. The participant-speaker was provided with computer generated visual feedback over five sessions within a consecutive period of three weeks. Changes in force control accuracy were gathered and analyzed. An improvement in finger (thumb) force control accuracy from the first to the last training session was documented. The results of this study provide data toward the development of a clinical training protocol for the use of a pressure sensitive onset controlled EL by laryngectomized speakers. Further, these results highlight the importance of developing a relevant multimodality training protocol for the improvement of postlaryngectomy EL speech production.