SUMMARY:
Prof. Zhang in the Department of Head and Neck Surgery has developed a voice inversion system that assesses the physiological state underlying voice production. The system can be used to diagnose vocal fold disorders as well as determine the emotional state of a speaker.
BACKGROUND:
Currently, clinical diagnosis of voice disorders relies on perceptual evaluation of a patient’s voice by trained physicians to determine if an abnormality in a patient’s vocal folds (also known as vocal cords) is underlying a voice disorder. Direct evaluation of the physiological state of a patient’s vocal folds, however, remains an outstanding challenge. An automated system that could diagnose pathological changes in vocal fold physiology from a patient’s voice is essential to improving accuracy of voice disorder diagnosis and treatment.
INNOVATION:
Prof. Zhang at UCLA has developed an inversion system that interprets voice patterns and calculates the underlying vocal fold physiological state producing the voice, thus allowing diagnosis of abnormality in the vocal folds. When monitoring voice changes over time in a patient, the inversion system can also be used to identify unhealthy vocal behaviors or assess the emotional state of a speaker, opening up possibilities in its application for voice rehabilitation, voice training, or automated health assessment by voice.
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