A Speech Prosthesis Employing a Speech Synthesizer-Vowel Discrimination from Perioral Muscle Activities and Vowel Production

Abstract

A speech prosthesis has been developed based on the following idea. When a handicapped person such as a laryngectomee tries to speak in vain, the movements of the mouth, tongue, etc., are elicited. By detecting the movements, what he or she is trying to say can be determined. Then a speech synthesizer is driven to produce a voice of good quality.