Speech/Non-Speech Detection for Electro-Larynx Speech Using EMG

Anna Katharina Fuchs, Clemens Amon, Martin Hagmüller

2015

Abstract

Electro-larynx speech (EL) is a possibility to re-obtain speech when the larynx is surgically removed or damaged. As currently available devices normally are hand-held, a new generation of EL devices would benefit from a hands-free version. In this work we use electromyographic (EMG) signals to investigate speech/nonspeech detection for EL speech. The muscle activity, which is represented by the EMG signal, correlates with the intention to produce speech sounds and therefore, the short-term energy can serve as a feature to make a speech/non-speech decision. We developed a data acquisition hardware to record EMG signals using surface electrodes. We then recorded a small database with parallel recordings of EMG and EL speech and used different approaches to classify the EMG signal into speech/non-speech sections. We compared the following envelope calculation methods: root mean square, Hilbert envelope, and low-pass filtered envelope, and different classification methods: single threshold, double threshold and a Gaussian mixture model based classification. This study suggests that the results are speaker dependent, i.e. they strongly depend on the signal-to-noise ratio of the EMG signal. We show that using low-pass filtered envelope together with double threshold detection outperforms the rest.

References

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Paper Citation


in Harvard Style

Katharina Fuchs A., Amon C. and Hagmüller M. (2015). Speech/Non-Speech Detection for Electro-Larynx Speech Using EMG . In Proceedings of the International Conference on Bio-inspired Systems and Signal Processing - Volume 1: BIOSIGNALS, (BIOSTEC 2015) ISBN 978-989-758-069-7, pages 138-144. DOI: 10.5220/0005181401380144


in Bibtex Style

@conference{biosignals15,
author={Anna Katharina Fuchs and Clemens Amon and Martin Hagmüller},
title={Speech/Non-Speech Detection for Electro-Larynx Speech Using EMG},
booktitle={Proceedings of the International Conference on Bio-inspired Systems and Signal Processing - Volume 1: BIOSIGNALS, (BIOSTEC 2015)},
year={2015},
pages={138-144},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0005181401380144},
isbn={978-989-758-069-7},
}


in EndNote Style

TY - CONF
JO - Proceedings of the International Conference on Bio-inspired Systems and Signal Processing - Volume 1: BIOSIGNALS, (BIOSTEC 2015)
TI - Speech/Non-Speech Detection for Electro-Larynx Speech Using EMG
SN - 978-989-758-069-7
AU - Katharina Fuchs A.
AU - Amon C.
AU - Hagmüller M.
PY - 2015
SP - 138
EP - 144
DO - 10.5220/0005181401380144