NCT04762043

MyoVoice to Restore Natural, Hands-free Communication to Individuals With Vocal Impairments

EMG Voice Restoration

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 30 (actual)
• Sponsor: Altec Inc. · Industry
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This study will evaluate the ability of MyoVoice to replace natural speech. Referred to generally as an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) device, MyoVoice uses electrical signals recorded non-invasively from speech muscles (electromyographic, or EMG, signals) to restore communication for those with vocal impairments that resulted from surgical treatment of laryngeal and oropharyngeal cancers.

Detailed description

Over 7.5 million people worldwide are unable to vocalize effectively. Among these individuals are cancer survivors who underwent oropharyngeal/laryngeal surgery and must rely on AAC systems such as text-to-speech applications or artificial voice prostheses as substitutes for their natural voice. Yet most of these devices struggle to convey the expressive attributes of speech (prosody), leading to poor comprehension and a lack of emotional content. The clinical trial will investigate the feasibility of MyoVoice-a novel AAC device that uses surface EMG signals to extract patterns for understanding vocabulary and expressive attributes from articulatory musculature during silently mouthed speech-to effectively restore conversational capabilities for individuals living with vocal impairments due to surgical treatment of laryngeal and oropharyngeal cancers. Patients who underwent a total laryngectomy will be asked to communicate with a conversational partner by silently mouthing words using MyoVoice. The device performance will be evaluated in terms of its ability to accurately and quickly translate articulatory muscle activity into audible speech. MyoVoice will also be compared to that of conventional electrolaryngeal speech aids (i.e., artificial larynx) to evaluate device ease-of-use, functional efficacy, and social reception.

Conditions

• Rehabilitation of Speech and Language Disorders
• Speech Disorders
• Speech, Alaryngeal
• Communication Aids for Disabled
• Speech Perception
• Speech Intelligibility

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DEVICE	Experimental System: MyoVoice	Person-centric augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) system comprising a user-specific set of wearable sensors for capturing articulatory muscle activity and mobile software that provides real-time audible speech outputs.
DEVICE	Reference System: Electrolarynx	Hand-operated electromechanical device that operates as an artificial larynx to enable a person after laryngectomy to produce speech.

Timeline

• Start date: 2021-02-12
• Primary completion: 2023-11-08
• Completion: 2023-11-08
• First posted: 2021-02-21
• Last updated: 2024-09-23
• Results posted: 2024-09-23

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States