Isolated word recognition of silent speech using magnetic implants and sensors.
There are a number of situations where individuals wish to communicate verbally but are unable to use conventional means-so called 'silent speech'. These include speakers in noisy and covert situations as well as patients who have lost their voice as a result of a laryngectomy or similar procedure. This paper focuses on those who are unable to speak following a laryngectomy and assesses the possibility of speech recognition based on a magnetic implant/sensors system. Permanent magnets are placed on the tongue and lips and the changes in magnetic field resulting from movement during speech are monitored using a set of magnetic sensors. The sensor signals are compared to sets of pre-recorded templates using the dynamic time warping (DTW) method, and the best match is identified. Experimental trials are reported for subjects with intact larynx, typically using 500-1000 utterances used for speaker dependant training and testing. It is shown that recognition rates of over 90% are achievable for vocabularies of at least 57 isolated words: sufficient to drive command-and-control applications.
Gilbert
J M
JM
Department of Engineering, University of Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK. j.m.gilbert@hull.ac.uk
Rybchenko
S I
SI
Hofe
R
R
Ell
S R
SR
Fagan
M J
MJ
Moore
R K
RK
Green
P
P
D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D003143:Communication Devices for People with Disabilities; D006801:Humans; D007825:Laryngectomy; D008280:Magnetics / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D010700:Phonetics; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology; D049250:Speech Recognition Software; D013071:Speech, Alaryngeal / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D014825:Vocabulary