AUDIOFONIATRIA E BIOINGEGNERIA

Module BIOINGEGNERIA ELETTRONICA E INFORMATICA

1. Knowledge and understanding: Useful knowledge concerning the techniques and tools for voice analysis adopted in speech and language therapy, in relation to the main pathologies of the phonatory system and the corresponding rehabilitative techniques.

2. Applying knowledge and understanding: The applied knowledge acquired through lectures will concern the ability to use electronic and computer bioengineering tools in the field of speech and language therapy.

3. Making judgements: The course will foster autonomy of judgement and the ability to assess the conditions under which techniques and tools for the speech and language rehabilitation of a patient should be applied.

4. Communication skills: The course is based on the use of terminology specific to studies related to electronic and computer bioengineering techniques applied to speech and language therapy, which will form the basis for the study of speech and language rehabilitation methods and techniques.

5. Learning skills: Learning skills will be enhanced through critical knowledge of the topics covered in the course, made possible by attendance at lectures, laboratory activities, and the study of reference texts.

Lectures

Foundational knowledge of mathematics and computer science

Mandatory, with at least 70% attendance

Section 1 (2 hours)
Introduction: Brief overview of the concepts of bioengineering, computer science, and electronics applied to speech and language therapy. Biomedical signals. Main language disorders and voice pathologies. Dysphonias and phases of speech and language therapy.

Section 2 (4 hours)
Acoustic waves and their propagation: Characteristics of sound waves. Transverse and longitudinal waves. Periodic waves and velocity. Pitch. Doppler effect. Sound intensity and power, attenuation and its measurement in decibels. Threshold of hearing and pain. Hearing sensitivity loss. Types of interference. Diffraction, reflection (echo and reverberation), and refraction of sound.

Section 3 (6 hours)
Time–frequency analysis of the vocal signal and the phonatory system: Harmonics and types of sounds. Line and continuous spectra (Fourier series and Fourier transform). Spectrogram. Sound timbre. Power spectral density and white noise. Types of filters and filter order. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Voice amplitude distribution. Phonatory system. Pitch period and frequency. Voiced and unvoiced sounds. Formant frequencies. Intelligibility and the Lehmann scale. Causes of reduced intelligibility.

Section 4 (2 hours)
Main acoustic–electric transducers and communication channels: Acoustic–electric transducers (microphones). Carbon, condenser, and dynamic microphones. Electric–acoustic transducer (loudspeaker). Communication media and signal types. Sound attenuation. Ideal, perfect, linear, and time-invariant channels. Equalization. Non-linear channels and related issues. Noisy channels and interference.

Section 5 (4 hours)
Analog-to-digital conversion and information theory: A/D and D/A conversion. Sampling and quantization. Linear predictive vocoder and parametric coding. Voice Activity Detection (VAD). Speech-to-text conversion and speech synthesis. Information theory. Discrete source. Measure of information. Binary coding and bit rate. Lossy and lossless compression. Channel and line coding. Digital transmitters and receivers.

Section 6 (3 hours)
Computer and electronic tools in speech and language therapy: Speech Banana Audiogram. Multi-Dimensional Voice Program (MDVP). Audacity, PRAAT. Fiber-optic laryngoscope. Video fiberoptic rhinolaryngoscopy. SMAAV: Semantic Memory Assessment on Action Verbs. DILLo: Italian Lexicon Database for Speech and Language Therapists

1 Lecture notes
2 Lorenzo Rossano - Bioingegneria elettronica - Elettronic e strumentazione biomedica - volume 2, Ed. McGraw Hill Education  
3 John D Cutnell Kenneth W Johnson, “Elementi di Fisica”, Ed. Zanichelli
4 Roberto Albera Oskar Schindler ''Audiologia e Foniatria''- Ed Minerva Medica 

Multiple-choice and open-ended tests, possible oral examination

The assessment covers all topics included in the syllabus. Some examples of questions are: language and voice disorders; propagation of acoustic waves; time–frequency analysis; characteristics of sounds; the human phonatory system; voice biometrics; spectrogram; characteristics and distortions of a communication channel; pitch frequency and formants; phonetic characteristics; software tools for voice analysis.