scholarly journals Detection of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) via Acoustic Analysis

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raquel Norel ◽  
Mary Pietrowicz ◽  
Carla Agurto ◽  
Shay Rishoni ◽  
Guillermo Cecchi
Keyword(s):  
Disease Progression ◽  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Voice Quality ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Frequent Monitoring ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
A Cell ◽  
Speech Features ◽  
Severity Of The Disease ◽  
Lateral Sclerosis

ABSTRACTALS is a fatal neurodegenerative disease with no cure. Experts typically measure disease progression via the ALSFRS-R score, which includes measurements of various abilities known to decline. We propose instead the use of speech analysis as a proxy for ALS progression. This technique enables 1) frequent non-invasive, inexpensive, longitudinal analysis, 2) analysis of data recorded in the wild, and 3) creation of an extensive ALS databank for future analysis. Patients and trained medical professionals need not be co-located, enabling more frequent monitoring of more patients from the convenience of their own homes. The goals of this study are the identification of acoustic speech features in naturalistic contexts which characterize disease progression and development of machine models which can recognize the presence and severity of the disease. We evaluated subjects from the Prize4Life Israel dataset, using a variety of frequency, spectral, and voice quality features. The dataset was generated using the ALS Mobile Analyzer, a cell-phone app that collects data regarding disease progress using a self-reported ALSFRS-R questionnaire and several active tasks that measure speech and motor skills. Classification via leave-five-subjects-out cross-validation resulted in an accuracy rate of 79% (61% chance) for males and 83% (52% chance) for females.

A New Computational Tool for Voice Analysis Based on FFT, Wavelet Transform, and Spectrogram

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathalee C. de Almeida ◽  
Jannayna D. Barros ◽  
Heliana B. Soares ◽  
Adriano de A. Bresolin ◽  
Ana Maria G. Guerreiro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Voice Quality ◽  
Digital Signal ◽  
Computational Tool ◽  
Voice Analysis ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Processing Techniques ◽  
The Voice ◽  
Signal Processing Techniques

Digital signal processing techniques have been used by acoustic analysis to evaluate the voice quality of the patient, due to the simplicity and non-invasive procedures for measurements.

scholarly journals Acoustic Analysis of Phonation in Children With Smith–Magenis Syndrome

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene Hidalgo-De la Guía ◽  
Elena Garayzábal-Heinze ◽  
Pedro Gómez-Vilda ◽  
Rafael Martínez-Olalla ◽  
Daniel Palacios-Alonso
Keyword(s):  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Voice Quality ◽  
Muscle Stiffness ◽  
Clinical State ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Deficits ◽  
Healthy Control ◽  
Cepstral Peak Prominence ◽  
Speech Features

Complex simultaneous neuropsychophysiological mechanisms are responsible for the processing of the information to be transmitted and for the neuromotor planning of the articulatory organs involved in speech. The nature of this set of mechanisms is closely linked to the clinical state of the subject. Thus, for example, in populations with neurodevelopmental deficits, these underlying neuropsychophysiological procedures are deficient and determine their phonation. Most of these cases with neurodevelopmental deficits are due to a genetic abnormality, as is the case in the population with Smith–Magenis syndrome (SMS). SMS is associated with neurodevelopmental deficits, intellectual disability, and a cohort of characteristic phenotypic features, including voice quality, which does not seem to be in line with the gender, age, and complexion of the diagnosed subject. The phonatory profile and speech features in this syndrome are dysphonia, high f0, excess vocal muscle stiffness, fluency alterations, numerous syllabic simplifications, phoneme omissions, and unintelligibility of speech. This exploratory study investigates whether the neuromotor deficits in children with SMS adversely affect phonation as compared to typically developing children without neuromotor deficits, which has not been previously determined. The authors compare the phonatory performance of a group of children with SMS (N = 12) with a healthy control group of children (N = 12) matched in age, gender, and grouped into two age ranges. The first group ranges from 5 to 7 years old, and the second group goes from 8 to 12 years old. Group differences were determined for two forms of acoustic analysis performed on repeated recordings of the sustained vowel /a/ F1 and F2 extraction and cepstral peak prominence (CPP). It is expected that the results will enlighten the question of the underlying neuromotor aspects of phonation in SMS population. These findings could provide evidence of the susceptibility of phonation of speech to neuromotor disturbances, regardless of their origin.

Automated Acoustic Analysis of Oral Diadochokinesis to Assess Bulbar Motor Involvement in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Panying Rong
Keyword(s):  
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ◽  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Speaking Rate ◽  
Disease Stage ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Tongue Movement ◽  
Major Barrier ◽  
Syllable Repetition ◽  
Oral Diadochokinesis ◽  
Lateral Sclerosis

Purpose The purpose of this article was to validate a novel acoustic analysis of oral diadochokinesis (DDK) in assessing bulbar motor involvement in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Method An automated acoustic DDK analysis was developed, which filtered out the voice features and extracted the envelope of the acoustic waveform reflecting the temporal pattern of syllable repetitions during an oral DDK task (i.e., repetitions of /tɑ/ at the maximum rate on 1 breath). Cycle-to-cycle temporal variability (cTV) of envelope fluctuations and syllable repetition rate (sylRate) were derived from the envelope and validated against 2 kinematic measures, which are tongue movement jitter (movJitter) and alternating tongue movement rate (AMR) during the DDK task, in 16 individuals with bulbar ALS and 18 healthy controls. After the validation, cTV, sylRate, movJitter, and AMR, along with an established clinical speech measure, that is, speaking rate (SR), were compared in their ability to (a) differentiate individuals with ALS from healthy controls and (b) detect early-stage bulbar declines in ALS. Results cTV and sylRate were significantly correlated with movJitter and AMR, respectively, across individuals with ALS and healthy controls, confirming the validity of the acoustic DDK analysis in extracting the temporal DDK pattern. Among all the acoustic and kinematic DDK measures, cTV showed the highest diagnostic accuracy (i.e., 0.87) with 80% sensitivity and 94% specificity in differentiating individuals with ALS from healthy controls, which outperformed the SR measure. Moreover, cTV showed a large increase during the early disease stage, which preceded the decline of SR. Conclusions This study provided preliminary validation of a novel automated acoustic DDK analysis in extracting a useful measure, namely, cTV, for early detection of bulbar ALS. This analysis overcame a major barrier in the existing acoustic DDK analysis, which is continuous voicing between syllables that interferes with syllable structures. This approach has potential clinical applications as a novel bulbar assessment.

Acoustic Analysis of Voice Quality in Iron Maiden’s Songs

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexsandro Meireles ◽  
Beatriz Raposo de Medeiros
Keyword(s):  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Voice Quality

scholarly journals Role of MRI evaluation in acute secondary inability to walk in children

2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
K. H. Sedeek ◽  
K. Aboualfotouh ◽  
S. M. Hassanein ◽  
N. M. Osman ◽  
M. H. Shalaby
Keyword(s):  
Transverse Myelitis ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis ◽  
Limb Weakness ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Highly Sensitive ◽  
Common Causes ◽  
Bilateral Lower Limb ◽  
Severity Of The Disease

Abstract Background Acute bilateral lower limb weakness is a common problem in children which necessitates a rapid method for diagnosis. MRI is a non-invasive imaging technique that produces high-quality images of the internal structure of the brain and spinal cord. Results MRI was very helpful in reaching rapid and prompt diagnosis in children with acute inability to walk. Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS), and acute transverse myelitis (ATM) were the most common causes in our study. MRI proved to be of high sensitivity in detecting the lesions and reaching the diagnosis in ADEM and GBS; however, there was no significant relation between the lesions’ size, enhancement pattern, and severity of the disease or prognosis, yet in ATM the site of the lesion and number of cord segment affection were significantly related to the severity of the disease and prognosis. Conclusion MRI is a quick tool to reach the diagnosis of children with acute secondary inability to walk, and to eliminate other differential diagnosis which is essential for proper treatment and rapid full recovery. It is highly sensitive in detecting the lesions, their site and size.

scholarly journals Clinical Determinants of Disease Progression in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis—A Retrospective Cohort Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1623
Author(s):  
Maria Viktoria Requardt ◽  
Dennis Görlich ◽  
Torsten Grehl ◽  
Matthias Boentert
Keyword(s):  
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ◽  
Motor Neuron ◽  
Disease Progression ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Rapid Decline ◽  
Chronic Obstructive ◽  
Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ◽  
Hazard Ratios ◽  
Sum Score ◽  
Lateral Sclerosis

Background: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease that is ultimately fatal but characterized by substantial phenotypic heterogeneity, which is known to impact long-term course and survival. This study investigated clinical determinants of disease progression and outcome in a large cohort of patients with ALS. Methods: Retrospective analysis included comprehensive data from 625 patients who attended a tertiary ALS centre at least twice. Patients were stratified according to five distinct clinical phenotypes: classical ALS; bulbar ALS; ALS with frontotemporal dementia (ALS-FTD); upper motor neuron predominant (UMNP); and lower motor neuron predominant (LMNP). Results: This study confirmed higher age at symptom onset, shorter latency to diagnosis and more rapid decline in the revised ALS Functional Rating Scale sum score as predictors of poor prognosis. Hazard ratios for shorter survival were higher in patients with ALS-FTD versus classical ALS, and in patients with versus without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Mean survival was longest in the UMNP phenotype group. Conclusions: This study confirmed established predictors of shorter survival in ALS and showed that concomitant COPD in particular relates to poor outcome.

Measuring Vocal Fatigue in Sports Coaches

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Kathy Connaughton ◽  
Irena Yanushevskaya
Keyword(s):  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Voice Quality ◽  
Professional Sports ◽  
Muscle Adaptation ◽  
Voice Change ◽  
Acoustic Measures ◽  
Perceptual Evaluation ◽  
Coaching Session ◽  
Sports Coaches ◽  
Voice Use

Objective: This study explores the immediate impact of prolonged voice use by professional sports coaches. Method: Speech samples including sustained phonation of vowel /a/ and a short read passage were collected from two professional sports coaches. The audio recordings were made within an hour before and after a coaching session, over three sessions. Perceptual evaluation of voice quality was done using the GRBAS scale. The speech samples were subsequently analyzed using Praat. The acoustic measures included fundamental frequency (f0), jitter, shimmer, Harmonics-to-Noise ratio and Cepstral Peak Prominence. Main results: The results of perceptual and acoustic analysis suggest a slight shift towards a tenser phonation post-coaching session, which is a likely consequence of laryngeal muscle adaptation to prolonged voice use. This tendency was similar in sustained vowels and connected speech. Conclusion: Acoustic measures used in this study can be useful to capture the voice change post-coaching session. It is desirable, however, that more sophisticated and robust and at the same time intuitive and easy-to-use tools for voice assessment and monitoring be made available to clinicians and professional voice users.

Intravenous infusion of mesenchymal stem cells delays disease progression in the SOD1G93A transgenic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis rat model

2021 ◽  
Vol 1757 ◽  
pp. 147296
Author(s):  
Hirotoshi Magota ◽  
Masanori Sasaki ◽  
Yuko Kataoka-Sasaki ◽  
Shinichi Oka ◽  
Ryo Ukai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ◽  
Mesenchymal Stem Cells ◽  
Disease Progression ◽  
Rat Model ◽  
Intravenous Infusion ◽  
Lateral Sclerosis

scholarly journals Spectral Decomposition of the Flow and Characterization of the Sound Signals through Stenoses with Different Levels of Severity

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 41
Author(s):  
Fardin Khalili ◽  
Peshala T. Gamage ◽  
Amirtahà Taebi ◽  
Mark E. Johnson ◽  
Randal B. Roberts ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Fluctuations ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Sound Sources ◽  
Severity Level ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Flow Through ◽  
Severity Of The Disease ◽  
Proper Orthogonal ◽  
Different Levels

Treatments of atherosclerosis depend on the severity of the disease at the diagnosis time. Non-invasive diagnosis techniques, capable of detecting stenosis at early stages, are essential to reduce associated costs and mortality rates. We used computational fluid dynamics and acoustics analysis to extensively investigate the sound sources arising from high-turbulent fluctuating flow through stenosis. The frequency spectral analysis and proper orthogonal decomposition unveiled the frequency contents of the fluctuations for different severities and decomposed the flow into several frequency bandwidths. Results showed that high-intensity turbulent pressure fluctuations appeared inside the stenosis for severities above 70%, concentrated at plaque surface, and immediately in the post-stenotic region. Analysis of these fluctuations with the progression of the stenosis indicated that (a) there was a distinct break frequency for each severity level, ranging from 40 to 230 Hz, (b) acoustic spatial-frequency maps demonstrated the variation of the frequency content with respect to the distance from the stenosis, and (c) high-energy, high-frequency fluctuations existed inside the stenosis only for severe cases. This information can be essential for predicting the severity level of progressive stenosis, comprehending the nature of the sound sources, and determining the location of the stenosis with respect to the point of measurements.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document