Browsing by Person "Jannetts, Stephen"

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Assessing voice health using smartphones: Bias and random error of acoustic voice parameters captured by different smartphone types
(Wiley, 2019-02-19) Jannetts, Stephen; Schaeffler, Felix; Beck, Janet M.; Cowen, Steve
BACKGROUND: Occupational voice problems constitute a serious public health issue with substantial financial and human consequences for society. Modern mobile technologies like smartphones have the potential to enhance approaches to prevention and management of voice problems. This paper addresses an important aspect of smartphone-assisted voice care: the reliability of smartphone-based acoustic analysis for voice health state monitoring. AIM: To assess the reliability of acoustic parameter extraction for a range of commonly used smartphones by comparison with studio recording equipment. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Twenty-two vocally healthy speakers (12 female; 10 male) were recorded producing sustained vowels and connected speech under studio conditions using a high-quality studio microphone and an array of smartphones. For both types of utterances, Bland-Altman-Analysis was used to assess overall reliability for Mean F0; CPPS; Jitter (RAP) and Shimmer %. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Analysis of the systematic and random error indicated significant bias for CPPS across both sustained vowels and passage reading. Analysis of the random error of the devices indicated that that mean F0 and CPPS showed acceptable random error size, while jitter and shimmer random error was judged as problematic. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Confidence in the feasibility of smartphone-based voice assessment is increased by the experimental finding of high levels of reliability for some clinically relevant acoustic parameters, while the use of other parameters is discouraged. We also challenge the practice of using statistical tests (e.g. t-tests) for measurement reliability assessment.
Cepstral Peak Prominence-Based Phonation Stabilisation Time as an Indicator of Voice Disorder
(2015-05) Jannetts, Stephen; Schaeffler, Felix; Queen Margaret University
A common feature of voice disorders is the impairment of the ability to initiate and sustain adequately periodic vocal fold vibrations. Traditional acoustic approaches that use sustained vowels in which initial/final portions are excluded have been criticised for poor validity and for exclusion of factors that may be a rich source of clinically relevant data e.g. regarding the onset of vocal fold vibration. The aim of this study was to establish if phonation stabilisation time (PST), as determined by cepstal peak prominence (CPP), is useful as an indicator of voice disorders in connected speech. Disordered voices from all groups showed a significantly longer mean PST than normal voices from the same group. The proportion of voiced segments that reached the stable threshold of periodicity were significantly higher for normal voices in all groups. Our results indicate that PST using CPP has potential to differentiate between the normal and disordered voices. The results for the 'below threshold' groups for both male and female are of particular interest. These results suggest that PST using CPP may be a potential indicator of voice disorder in cases where traditional acoustic analysis measures of sustained vowels do not show any pathological findings.
Phonation stabilisation time as an indicator of voice disorder
(University of Glasgow: Glasgow, 2015-08-10) Schaeffler, Felix; Beck, Janet M.; Jannetts, Stephen
There is increasing emphasis on use of connected speech for acoustic analysis of voice disorder, but the differential impact of disorder on initiation, maintenance and termination of phonation has received little attention. This study introduces a new measure of dynamic changes at onset of phonation during connected speech, phonation stabilisation time (PST), and compares this measure with conventional analysis of sustained vowels. Voice samples obtained from the KayPENTAX Disordered Voice Database were analysed (202 females, 128 males) including 'below threshold' voices where there was a clinical diagnosis but acoustic parameters for sustained vowels were within the normal range. Female disordered voices showed significantly longer PST duration than normal voices, including those in the 'below threshold' group. Overall differences for male voices were also significant. Results suggest that, at least for females, PST measurement from connected speech could provide a more sensitive indicator of disorder than traditional analysis of sustained vowels.
RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF ACOUSTIC VOICE ANALYSIS USING SMARTPHONE RECORDINGS FOR CLINICAL AND REMOTE ASSESSMENT
(Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, 2025-05) Jannetts, Stephen
This thesis addresses the critical need for reliable and accessible methods to assess and monitor vocal health, particularly among occupational voice users and patients accessing speech and language therapy remotely. Traditional clinical methods, including patient self-reports and acoustic analyses conducted during isolated visits, provide only limited snapshots of vocal health, often missing daily fluctuations essential for long-term well-being. Leveraging advancements in smartphone technology, which offers sophisticated audio processing and widespread accessibility, this research explores the feasibility and clinical utility of smartphone-based acoustic voice analysis. The research comprises four comprehensive studies. Studies 1, 1b and 1c evaluate the reliability of acoustic measurements obtained from four smartphone models compared to a professional studio microphone in a controlled environment. Results indicate that measures such as cepstral peak prominence (CPPS), harmonics-tonoise ratio (HNR), long-term average spectrum (LTAS) slope, and glottal noise excitation ratio (GNE) demonstrate acceptable random error, suggesting that smartphones can reliably capture these parameters under controlled conditions. Study 2 validates the use of loudspeakers to transmit pre-recorded voice signals for acoustic analysis. The study finds minimal systematic bias and acceptable random errors, particularly for reading passages, affirming the reliability of loudspeaker transmitted recordings for standardised voice assessments. Study 3 assesses the validity and reliability of smartphones in field environments, comparing their performance to a studio-grade reference microphone. Higher-end smartphones, such as the iPhone 6s, reliably capture fundamental frequency (F0), CPPS, LTAS slope, and GNE, although shimmer and jitter measures exhibit significant variability. Study 4 investigates the impact of ambient noise on smartphone recordings, revealing that spectral measures remain stable, while parameters like shimmer and jitter are adversely affected by background noise. This underscores the necessity for controlled recording environments or robust noise mitigation strategies in real-world applications. Overall, this thesis demonstrates that smartphones hold significant potential for remote and real-time vocal health monitoring, particularly when focused on specific acoustic measures and controlled recording conditions. The findings contribute to the development of standardised protocols, enhancing the integration of smartphone technology into clinical voice assessment and telehealth services.
Reliability of clinical voice parameters captured with smartphones – measurements of added noise and spectral tilt
(ISCA, 2019-09-20) Schaeffler, Felix; Jannetts, Stephen; Beck, Janet M.
Smartphones have become powerful tools for data capture due to their computational power, internet connectivity, high quality sensors and user-friendly interfaces. This also makes them attractive for the recording of voice data that can be analysed for clinical or other voice health purposes. This however requires detailed assessment of the reliability of voice parameters extracted from smartphone recordings. In a previous study we analysed reliability of measures of periodicity and periodicity deviation, with very mixed results across parameters. In the present study we extended this analysis to measures of added noise and spectral tilt. We analysed systematic and random error for six frequently used acoustic parameters in clinical acoustic voice quality analysis. 22 speakers recorded sustained [a] and a short passage with a studio microphone and four popular smartphones simultaneously. Acoustic parameters were extracted with Praat and smartphone recordings were compared to the studio microphone. Results indicate a small systematic error for almost all parameters and smartphones. Random errors differed substantially between parameters. Our results suggest that extraction of acoustic voice parameters with mobile phones is not without problems and different parameters show substantial differences in reliability. Careful individual assessment of parameters is therefore recommended before use in practice.
Secure account-based data capture with smartphones – preliminary results from a study of articulatory precision in clinical depression
(De Gruyter Mouton, 2021-01-20) Miley, Erin; Schaeffler, Felix; Beck, Janet M.; Eichner, Matthias; Jannetts, Stephen
Smartphone technology is continuously being updated through software and hardware changes. At present, a limited number of studies have been undertaken to assess the impact of these changes on data collection for linguistic research. This paper discusses the potential of smartphones to gather reliable recordings, along with ethical considerations for storing additional personal information when working in other contexts (i.e. healthcare settings). A pilot study was undertaken using the FitvoiceTM account-based application to analyse articulatory proficiency in depressed and healthy participants. Results suggest that phonetic differences exist between these groups in terms of plosive production, and that smartphones are capable of adequately recording these minute aspects of the speech signal for analysis.