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Biomedical subjects

H B Fisher

Publications and source records attributed to H B Fisher.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1989

Statistical differentiation of tracheoesophageal speech produced under four prosthetic/occlusion speaking conditions.

Twelve male and 12 female total laryngectomy patients who received the tracheoesophageal puncture (TEP) as a means of vocal rehabilitation served as subjects for this investigation. Recordings were made of these subjects' speech produced with four prosthetic/occlusion conditions: (1) duckbill prosthesis with tracheostoma valve; (2) duckbill prosthesis with digital occlusion of the tracheostoma; (3) low pressure prosthesis with tracheostoma valve; and (4) low pressure prosthesis with digital occlusion. Speech tasks consisted of three trials of maximum phonation time on /a/ and reading of a 98-word standard passage. Acoustic analysis of the recorded speech samples included a total of 34 frequency, intensity, temporal, and noise measures. Eight acoustic measures (words per minute, harmonics-to-noise ratio, percent jitter, intensity range during vowel phonation, percent periodic phonation, mean intensity during reading, directional jitter, and directional jitter, and directional shimmer) were chosen as dependent variables for a repeated measures MANOVA. The overall repeated measures MANOVA, a set of complex contrasts, and paired t tests revealed that TEP speech produced with the low pressure prosthesis was significantly different from that produced with the duckbill prosthesis on a weighted linear combination of the eight acoustic variables. Tracheoesophageal voice produced with a low pressure prosthesis had greater amounts of periodic phonation than tracheoesophageal voice produced with a duckbill prosthesis. The use of a tracheostoma valve did not have a significant impact on the subset of acoustic measures used in the repeated measures MANOVA.

Female↗
PubMed1985

Acoustic characteristics of women's voices with advancing age.

The purpose of this study was to increase current understanding of acoustic characteristics of women's voices with advancing age. Phonated and whispered [ae] vowel productions by 75 women at three age levels (25 to 35, 45 to 55, 70 to 80 years) were assessed on acoustic measures related to fundamental frequency stability and vocal tract resonance characteristics. Two acoustic variables effectively differentiated the three age groups. First, frequency stability, as reflected by fundamental frequency standard deviation, decreased with advanced age in women, suggesting that laryngeal and/or respiratory control of phonation shows some deterioration with age. Second, spectral analysis of phonated and whispered [ae] vowel productions revealed significant lowering of the frequency of the first format (F1) with advanced age, suggesting age-related changes in vocal tract dimensions, or positioning of speech structures.

Acoustics↗
PubMed1985

Acoustic characteristics of perceived versus actual vocal age in controlled phonation by adult females.

The purpose of this investigation was to obtain information on the acoustic characteristics of women's voices as a function of perceived versus actual age. Tape recordings of whispered and normally phonated /ae/ vowels were obtained from 75 women in three age groups (25-35, 45-55, and 70-80 years). One-second segments of phonemically representative /ae/ vowels were played to 23 listeners for relative age judgments. Phonated vowel productions were analyzed in terms of mean fundamental frequency, fundamental frequency standard deviation, and jitter ratio, as well as F1 and F2 frequencies. Whispered vowels were analyzed only in terms of F1 and F2 frequencies. Multiple regression analysis revealed that older age judgments based on phonated vowels were significantly associated with higher fundamental frequency standard deviation values and lower mean fundamental frequency values. Older age judgments based on whispered vowels were significantly associated with lower F1 frequencies. Results of this investigation suggest that both phonatory and resonance features play a role in defining age characteristics of women's voices. Acoustic cues associated with perceived age generally agreed with acoustic findings as a function of actual age.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Speech abnormalities in tardive dyskinesia.

Twelve outpatients with tardive dyskinesia underwent speech evaluation by trained listeners who analyzed oral reading and vowel production for deviation in multiple speech dimensions. In the six patients with speech abnormalities, temporal organization and voice production dimensions were the most severely deviant and were highly related to the overall intelligibility and bizarre quality of speech. Deviations in articulation were less prominent. Abnormal involuntary movement scale ratings of the trunk in these patients were significantly greater than in the patients without speech impairment, although the lingual-facial-buccal and total body scores were similar between the two groups.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Selected acoustic features of tracheoesophageal, esophageal, and laryngeal speech.

Voice samples of 15 laryngeal, esophageal, and tracheoesophageal speakers using the Blom-Singer voice prosthesis were analyzed for intensity, frequency, and rate. Results indicate that characteristic values for tracheoesophageal speech are more similar to laryngeal speech than esophageal speech, demonstrating the powerful advantage of this pulmonary-supported method of alaryngeal voice.

Acoustics↗
PubMed1984

A comparative acoustic study of normal, esophageal, and tracheoesophageal speech production.

Acoustic characteristics of two types of alaryngeal speech were quantified and compared to normal speech production. High-quality audio recordings were obtained from 15 subjects who had undergone the tracheoesophageal puncture method of postlaryngectomy vocal rehabilitation (Singer & Blom, 1980), 15 esophageal speakers, and 15 laryngeal talkers as they sustained the vowel /alpha/ and read a standard paragraph. Ten frequency, 7 intensity, and 13 duration variables were quantified. Central tendency and variability measures of frequency and duration for the three speaker groups indicated that tracheoesophageal speech is more similar to normal speech than is esophageal speech. Intensity measures indicated that tracheoesophageal speech is more intense than normal and esophageal speech.

Aged↗
PubMed1982

Acoustic characteristics of voice production after Staffieri's surgical reconstructive procedure.

Selected phonatory variables for two laryngeal cancer patients were studied before and after total laryngectomy with reconstruction designed to restore phonation. Each subject performed five speaking tasks while simultaneous pneumographic and voice recordings were obtained. Measures of sound pressure level, fundamental frequency, vowel formant structure, frequency range, words per minute, maximum phonation time, and syllables per breath were compared pre- and post-operatively. Results indicate that for the post-surgical condition there was a reduction in intensity, frequency, and temporal measures for the two subjects studied. Results are analyzed and discussed in relation to variation within subjects and between subjects, and by comparison with the acoustic parameters of normal and esophageal talkers.

Aged↗
PubMed1982

Compensatory articulation patterns of a surgically treated oral cancer patient.

Acoustic, physiologic, and perceptual data on articulation of bilabial and alveolar stop consonants in CVC words spoken by a subject with a 20% glossectomy, 2/3-mandibulectomy and radical neck dissection, whose surgical closure was accomplished by suturing the tongue to the floor of the mouth and buccal mucosa are provided. Compensatory articulation patterns were identified from tracings of vocal tract shapes obtained by videofluoroscopy. Acoustic analysis was accomplished by means of computer-aided examination of the speech waveform. Compensatory postures for articulation of the stop consonants were characterized by varying degrees of labial protrusion and retraction, dependent on the vowel context. Distinction between the bilabial and tip-alveolar consonants was evidenced in lingual-velar closure vs. lingual-velar-palatal closure. These compensatory patterns are discussed in relation to the acoustic properties of the corresponding speech sounds obtained from synthetic speech samples and in relation to perceptual data obtained from trained listeners.

Glossectomy↗
PubMed1981

Vocal tract control in Parkinson's disease: phonetic feature analysis of misarticulations.

Consonant articulation patterns of 200 Parkinson patients were defined by two expert listeners from high fidelity tape recordings of the sentence version of the Fisher-Logemann Test of Articulation Competence (1971). Phonetic transcription and phonetic feature analysis were the methodologies used. Of the 200 patients, 90 (45%) exhibited some misarticulations. Phonetic data on these 90 dysarthric Parkinson patients revealed articulatory errors highly consistent in detailed production characteristics. Manner changes predominated. Phoneme classes that were most affected were the stop-plosives, affricates, and fricatives. In terms of perception features (Chomsky & Halle, 1968), the stop-plosives and affricates, which are normally [-continuant] were produced as [+continuant] fricatives; fricatives that are [+strident] were produced as [-strident]. There is no implication, however, that Parkinsonism involves a perception deficit. Analysis of the articulatory deficit reveals inadequate tongue elevation to achieve complete closure on stop-plosives and affricates, which can be expressed in production features as a change from [+stop] to [+fricative]. There was also inadequate close constriction of the airway in lingual fricatives, which in articulatory features can be expressed as a change from [+fricative] to [-fricative]. Both the incomplete contact for stops and the partial constriction for fricatives represent an inadequate narrowing of the vocal tract at the point of articulation. These results are discussed in relation to recent EMG studies and other physiologic examinations of Parkinsonian dysarthria.

Electromyography↗
PubMed1978

Frequency and cooccurrence of vocal tract dysfunctions in the speech of a large sample of Parkinson patients.

In this study, the frequency of occurrence of speech and voice symptoms in 200 Parkinson patients was defined by two expert listeners from high-fidelity tape recordings of conversational speech samples and readings of the sentence version of the Fisher-Logemann Test of Articulation Competence. Specific phonemes that were misarticulated were catalogued. Other vocal-tract dysfunctions, including laryngeal disorders, rate disorders, and hypernasality, were also recorded. Cooccurrence of symptoms in each patient was tabulated. Examination of the patterns of cooccurring dysfunctions permitted classifying the 200 patients into five groups: Group 1 (45% of the patients) with laryngeal dysfunction as their only vocal-tract symptom; Group 2 (13.5% of the patients) with laryngeal and back-tongue involvement; Group 3 (17% of the patients) with laryngeal, back-tongue, and tongue-blade dysfunction; Group 4 (5.5% of the patients) with laryngeal dysfunction, back-tongue involvement, tongue-blade dysfunction, and labial misarticulations; and Group 5 (9% of the patients) with laryngeal dysfunction and misarticulations of the back tongue, tongue blade, lips, and tongue tip. Disfluencies and hypernasality did not follow a systematic pattern of cooccurrence with other vocal-tract dysfunctions.

Humans↗
PubMed1977

Speech and swallowing evaluation in the differential diagnosis of neurologic disease.

Examination of the speech mechanism (the vocal tract) frequently provides information about certain neurologic lesions. The speech, swallowing and respiratory patterns of patients with cerebellar, upper motor neuron, lower motor neuron and extra-pyramidal lesions (parkinsonism) were studied, 10 of each category. The patient's lingual, labial and velar movement was examined cineradiographically during production of four short speech samples and the oral, through esophageal structures, during chewing and swallowing. Videotape, with simultaneous voice recording, and 16 mm. film were used. Oral, pharyngeal and esophageal transit times during swallowing were determined. These quantified tests reveal distinctive differences in vocal tract physiology between patient groups. The specific physiologic patterns characteristic of each neurological lesion were discussed and illustrated with films. Each patient group in this study exhibited a distinctive profile distinguishing it from every other. The results also indicate that if only a portion of these studies was completed, the disorder might be erroneously classified. The findings emphasize the need for complete and detailed physiologic studies of the speech and swallowing of patients with neurologic lesions, as an aid to accurate diagnosis.

Brain Diseases↗
PubMed1975

Comparison of speech and swallowing function in patients with tremor disorders and in normal geriatric patients: a cinefluorographic study.

In a study of vocal tract and esophageal function during speech and swallowing, unmedicated Parkinson patients were found to have specific disorders in oral and esophageal stages of deglutition and a predictable sequence of deterioration in speech. To determine whether these disorders are exclusive to parkinsonism or are typical of all patients with tremor or of geriatric patients in general, a cinefluoroscopic study was initiated to examine the physiology of speech and swallowing in these other patients. Subjects were 10 normal geriatric patients and 10 patients with essential tremor. Results of the studies for these two groups were compared with data from earlier studies on unmedicated Parkinson patients. Parkinson patients showed most severely disordered swallowing and speech function. Patients with essential tremor showed only slight slowing in esophageal transit during swallowing and vocal tremor during speech, but no progressive deterioration. Normal geriatric patients revealed no swallowing or speech disturbances.

Age Factors↗