Artificial neural network analysis to assess hypernasality in patients treated for oral or oropharyngeal cancer
Marieke de Bruijn1, Louis ten Bosch, Dirk J Kuik
1Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Objective:
Investigation of applicability of neural network feature analysis of nasalance in speech to assess hypernasality in speech of patients treated for oral or oropharyngeal cancer.
Patients And Methods:
Speech recordings of 51 patients and of 18 control speakers were evaluated regarding hypernasality, articulation, intelligibility, and patient-reported speech outcome. Feature analysis of nasalance was performed on /a/, /i/, and /u/ and on the entire stretch of speech.
Results:
Nasalance distinguished significantly between patients and controls. Nasalance in /a/ and /i/ predicted best intelligibility, nasalance in /a/ predicted best articulation, and nasalance in /i/ and /u/ predicted best hypernasality.
Conclusion:
Feature analysis of nasalance in oral or oropharyngeal cancer patients is feasible; prediction of subjective parameters varies between moderate and poor.
