title: Comparison of voice relative fundamental frequency estimates derived from an accelerometer signal and low-pass filtered and unprocessed microphone signals.
abstract: The relative fundamental frequency (RFF) surrounding the production of a voiceless consonant has previously been estimated using unprocessed and low-pass filtered microphone signals, but it can also be estimated using a neck-placed accelerometer signal that is less affected by vocal tract formants. Determining the effects of signal type on RFF will allow for comparisons across studies and aid in establishing a standard protocol with minimal within-speaker variability. Here RFF was estimated in 12 speakers with healthy voices using unprocessed microphone, low-pass filtered microphone, and unprocessed accelerometer signals. Unprocessed microphone and accelerometer signals were recorded simultaneously using a microphone and neck-placed accelerometer. The unprocessed microphone signal was filtered at 350 Hz to construct the low-pass filtered microphone signal. Analyses of variance showed that signal type and the interaction of vocal cycle × signal type had significant effects on both RFF means and standard deviations, but with small effect sizes. The overall RFF trend was preserved regardless of signal type and the intra-speaker variability of RFF was similar among the signal types. Thus, RFF can be estimated using either a microphone or an accelerometer signal in individuals with healthy voices. Future work extending these findings to individuals with disordered voices is warranted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215.
authors.forename: Yu-An S
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Lien
authors.affiliation: Departments of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215.
authors.forename: Cara E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Stepp
mesh_terms: D061725:Accelerometry; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009333:Neck; D015588:Observer Variation; D010699:Phonation; D010700:Phonetics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D014160:Transducers, Pressure; D014833:Voice Quality; D055815:Young Adult