Design and Evaluation of Korean Electropalatography (K-EPG)

Abstract

Recently, the development of medical rehabilitation technology has resulted in an increased interest in speech therapy equipment. In particular, research on articulation therapy for communication disorders is being actively conducted. The existing methods for the diagnosis and treatment of speech disorders, such as traditional tactile perception tests and methods based on the empirical judgment of speech therapists, have many limitations. Moreover, the position and contact force of the tongue are key factors in speech disorders with regards to articulation. This is a very important factor in the distinction of Korean characters such as lax, tense and aspirated consonants. In this study, we proposed a Korean-electropalatography (EPG) system to easily measure and monitor the position and contact force of the tongue during articulation treatment and diagnosis. In our proposed K-EPG system, a sensor was fabricated using an AgCl electrode and biocompatible silicon. Furthermore, the measured signal was analyzed by implementing a bio-signal processing module and monitoring program. In particular, the bio-signal was measured by inserting the device into the palate of an experimental healthy test group (four subjects). Through these experiments, we confirmed that our K-EPG system could be applied to clinical treatment in speech therapy.

A Missing Voice: The Lingual Complex and Osteopathic Manual Medicine in the Context of Five Osteopathic Models

“…The palatoglossus muscle plays an important role in the production of phonesis through movement in elevation and retrusion, in particular, in the management of an anatomical area essential for speech (oropharyngeal isthmus); this last anatomical region separates the oral and pharyngeal spaces of the vocal tract [90]. A reduction in the ability to form words, with decreased muscle tone and a decline in communicating with other people, worsens patients' quality of life [91]. In the book on osteopathy, which represents a global reference for osteopathic clinicians (Foundations of Osteopathic Medicine), the example of a patient with emphysema is presented for this fifth model and the consequences that this pathology causes from respiratory problems to psychic dysfunctions [2].…”

IR-UWB Radar-Based Contactless Silent Speech Recognition of Vowels, Consonants, Words, and Phrases

“…Various sensing techniques have been proposed for capturing nonacoustic speech-related biosignals [1], [2], [3], [4]. Among these techniques, electromagnetic articulography (EMA) [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], permanent magnetic articulography [11], [12], and electropalatography [13], [14], [15] involve the placement of sensors inside the oral cavity. The tongue is one of the primary articulators; however, capturing tongue motion is challenging because the tongue is inside the oral cavity.…”