Prosodic Preferences of Surface Electromyography-based Subvocal Speech for People With Laryngectomy.
Laura Raiff, Dea Turashvili, James T Heaton and 3 others
PMID 39643558WHAT IT FOUND
People with laryngectomy and their communication partners rated synthetic speech with continuous pitch mapping as more natural than electrolarynx speech.
They prioritized sound quality and intelligibility over ease of use, suggesting future devices should focus on voice naturalness rather than just usability.
Key findings
01Both people with laryngectomy and their communication partners rated synthetic speech with continuous pitch contours as significantly more natural than synthesized electrolarynx speech.
02Sound quality was rated as the most important feature of a speech aid, significantly higher than maintenance, cost, wearability, training, and visibility.
03Participants prioritized communication reception features (sound quality, intelligibility, pitch, volume, delay) over physical operation features (training, handsfree, maintenance, cost, wearability, visibility).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The synthetic speech was generated from speakers with normal neck anatomy, so the results may not accurately reflect the experience of people with laryngectomy who have altered anatomy. The study used only three short phrases, which may not represent natural conversational speech. The sample size was small (19 listeners), and the groups were unbalanced (14 PWLs vs 5 partners). Participants were experienced users of alaryngeal speech, which may bias their perception of naturalness compared to naïve listeners.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret this as evidence that current commercial devices with continuous pitch mapping are available or proven effective for people with laryngectomy. The study tested synthetic speech generated from speakers with normal neck anatomy, not actual devices used by the patients.