Ci a ion: He náez-Rioja, I.;
Gonzalez-Lopez, J.A.; Ch is ensen, H.
Special Issue on Applica ions o
Speech and Language Technologies
in Heal hca e. Appl. Sci. 2023,13,
6840. h ps://doi.o g/10.3390/
app13116840
Recei ed: 14 May 2023
Re ised: 26 May 2023
Accep ed: 29 May 2023
Published: 5 June 2023
Copy igh : © 2023 by he au ho s.
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Swi ze land.
This a icle is an open access a icle
dis ibu ed unde he e ms and
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applied
sciences
Edi o ial
Special Issue on Applica ions o Speech and Language
Technologies in Heal hca e
Inma He náez-Rioja 1,* , Jose A. Gonzalez-Lopez 2and Heidi Ch is ensen 3
1HiTZ Cen e —Aholab, Uni e si y o he Basque Coun y UPV/EHU, 48014 Bilbao, Spain
2Depa men Signal Theo y, Telema ics and Communica ions, Uni e si y o G anada, 18015 G anada, Spain;
joseangl@ug .es
3Depa men o Compu e Science, Uni e si y o She ield, She ield S1 4DP, UK;
[email p o ec ed]
*Co espondence: [email p o ec ed]
1. In oduc ion
In ecen yea s, he explo a ion and up ake o digi al heal h echnologies ha e ad-
anced apidly wi h a eal po en ial impac o e olu ionise heal hca e deli e y and associ-
a ed indus ies. Ad ancemen s include op ions o emo e assessmen and consul a ion
( elemedicine) ha enable pa ien s o engage wi h heal hca e p o essionals and clinicians
wi hou a elling in o clinics and hospi als. Ano he de elopmen is he in es iga ion o
how pe asi e echnologies, such as wea ables and mobile apps, can help ack bioma ke s,
physical ac i i ies, and moods. O e all, hese ad ancemen s in digi al heal h echnologies,
which a e unde pinned by a i icial in elligence and machine lea ning, ha e he po en ial
o imp o e pa ien ou comes, educe cos s, and enhance he o e all quali y o ca e.
In his con ex , he use o speech and language p ocessing echnologies in heal hca e
applica ions is an eme ging ield wi h g ea p omise. Applica ions ange om oice-based
da a en y, assessmen and p ocessing o , e.g., elec onic heal h eco ds, o he explo a ions
o how bioma ke s ha a e indica i e o a ious pa hologies can be obus ly ex ac ed
and used o diagnos ic suppo . As e idenced by he sp ead o opics co e ed in his
Special Issue, speech and language p ocessing echnologies a e now ma u ing a a apid
pace, necessi a ing a ocused e o on ansla ional esea ch o make su e solu ions a e
app op ia e, meaning ul, and accu a e o all use s in eal-wo ld se ings.
2. Recen Ad ances in Applica ion o Speech and Language Technologies
in Heal hca e
This Special Issue comp ises en pape s ha co e di e se a eas in he ield o speech
and language echnologies. The wo ks a e g ouped in o h ee main ca ego ies: de ec ion o
pa hologies om speech ea u es ( ou pape s), au oma ic speech ecogni ion o pa hologi-
cal speech (one pape ), and use o speech syn hesis and speech con e sion echnologies o
imp o e communica ion o people wi h speech pa hologies ( i e pape s). The esea ch
ea u ed in his Special Issue analyses a wide ange o speech pa hologies, including apha-
sia ( wo pape s), esophageal speech ( wo pape s), hype nasali y (one pape ), speech om
indi iduals wi h Pa kinson’s disease (one pape ), speech om indi iduals a ending psy-
cho he apeu ic in e en ion (one pape ), and speech om indi iduals wi h obs uc i e
pulmona y disease (one pape ).
The ou pape s ocused on de ec ing speech pa hologies p esen inno a i e ap-
p oaches. In [
1
], acous ic and linguis ic ea u es ha a e au oma ically ex ac ed om
pa ien –p ac i ione con e sa ions a e success ully used o p edic p ac i ione s’ compe-
ency. Ozbol e al. [
2
] analysed me hodological aspec s in de ec ing speech pa hology
associa ed wi h Pa kinson’s disease om sus ained owels and p o ided ecommenda ions
o a oid misleading o o e op imis ic esul s. Mo eno-To es e al. [
3
] ocused on de ec ing
Appl. Sci. 2023,13, 6840. h ps://doi.o g/10.3390/app13116840 h ps://www.mdpi.com/jou nal/applsci
Appl. Sci. 2023,13, 6840 2 o 3
hype nasali y using a mobile app ha e alua es a ious ypes o u e ances and concluded
ha including di e en u e ance ypes imp o es he de ec ion o hype nasali y. Finally,
Fa us e al. [
4
] analysed speech om pa ien s wi h ch onic obs uc i e pulmona y disease
(COPD) o de e mine how i is a ec ed by medica ion and physical e o .
Two pape s add ess esophageal speech, bo h using speech con e sion echniques o
imp o e i s quali y and in elligibili y. Ezzine e al. [
5
] used a no el sequence- o-sequence
model wi h an audi o y a en ion mechanism, while Raman e al. [
6
] used syn he ic speech
as he a ge o a oice con e sion sys em o imp o e he quali y and in elligibili y o he
o iginal oice.
Aphasic speech is conside ed in wo o he pape s. To e e al. [
7
] add essed he
di icul y o ansc ibing e y unin elligible speech and he sca ci y o anno a ed da a by
p oposing a new semi-supe ised lea ning me hod wi h encou aging esul s. On he o he
hand, Cis ola e al. [
8
] explo ed he use o TTS sys ems o suppo indi iduals wi h aphasia
and eading di icul ies and analysed whe he he oice quali y o syn he ic speech a ec s
he eac ion imes o pa ien s.
Te blanche e al. [
9
] p esen ed a comp ehensi e o e iew o he app oaches and
s a egies used in 58 s udies o he gene a ion o child syn he ic speech. Despi e he apid
de elopmen o speech syn hesis echnology and high-quali y adul syn he ic speech, hei
s udy shows ha de eloping child syn he ic speech emains a challenging ask.
Finally, Lee [
10
] p oposed he use o ha monic enhancemen pos p ocessing o imp o e
he quali y o speech ob ained om a silen speech in e ace. The au ho used deep neu al
ne wo ks (DNNs) o es ima e he spec al coe icien s and emphasised he spec al ine
s uc u e o speech, while also minimizing he pe cep ual dis ance o a a ge na u al speech.
3. Fu u e Applica ions and Resea ch Di ec ions
The wo ks p esen ed in his Special Issue o e compelling e idence ha speech and
language echnologies can be aluable ools in clinical scena ios o indi iduals wi h
speech, oice, and language pa hologies. These echnologies ha e he po en ial o se e as
diagnos ic ools o ea ly de ec ion o speech pa hology associa ed wi h heal h condi ions,
such as Alzheime ’s o Pa kinson’s disease, o as assis i e echnologies aiming o imp o e
people’s li es in hei e e yday ou ines (e.g., as a communica ion ool o people wi h
aphasia). While conside able p og ess has been made, mo e esea ch is needed be o e hese
echnologies can be accep ed as eliable diagnos ic ools in ou ine clinical se ices. This
may en ail conduc ing s udies wi h la ge sample sizes, he eby p o iding addi ional da a
o ain s a e-o - he-a machine lea ning echniques. Once hese challenges ha e been
add essed, i is expec ed ha hese echnologies will become commonplace in heal hca e
se ings.
Acknowledgmen s:
This Special Issue would no be possible wi hou he con ibu ions o he au ho s,
e iewe s, and dedica ed edi o ial eam o Applied Sciences. We exp ess ou cong a ula ions o all
au ho s and ou since e g a e ulness o all e iewe s. Finally, we exp ess ou g a i ude o he edi o ial
eam o Applied Sciences.
Con lic s o In e es : The au ho s decla e no con lic o in e es .
Re e ences
1.
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Compe ency o Deli e ing Guided Sel -Help o Anxie y ia Speech and Language P ocessing. Appl. Sci.
2022
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2.
Ozbol , A.S.; Mo o-Velazquez, L.; Lina, I.; Bu ala, A.A.; Dehak, N. Things o Conside When Au oma ically De ec ing Pa kinson’s
Disease Using he Phona ion o Sus ained Vowels: Analysis o Me hodological Issues. Appl. Sci. 2022,12, 991. [C ossRe ]
3.
Mo eno-To es, I.; Lozano, A.; Na a, E.; Be múdez-De-Al ea , R. Which U e ance Types A e Mos Sui able o De ec Hype nasal-
i y Au oma ically? Appl. Sci. 2021,11, 8809. [C ossRe ]
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Fa ús, M.; Codina-Filbà, J.; Reixach, E.; And és, E.; Sans, M.; Ga cia, N.; Vilaseca, J. Speech-Based Suppo Sys em o Supe ise
Ch onic Obs uc i e Pulmona y Disease Pa ien S a us. Appl. Sci. 2021,11, 7999. [C ossRe ]
5.
Ezzine, K.; Di Ma ino, J.; F ikha, M. In elligibili y Imp o emen o Esophageal Speech Using Sequence- o-Sequence Voice
Con e sion wi h Audi o y A en ion. Appl. Sci. 2022,12, 7062. [C ossRe ]
Appl. Sci. 2023,13, 6840 3 o 3
6.
Raman, S.; Sa asola, X.; Na as, E.; He naez, I. En ichmen o Oesophageal Speech: Voice Con e sion wi h Du a ion–Ma ched
Syn he ic Speech as Ta ge . Appl. Sci. 2021,11, 5940. [C ossRe ]
7.
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8.
Cis ola, G.; Pei ó-Lilja, A.; Cámba a, G.; an de Meulen, I.; Fa ús, M. In luence o TTS Sys ems Pe o mance on Reac ion Times
in People wi h Aphasia. Appl. Sci. 2021,11, 11320. [C ossRe ]
9.
Te blanche, C.; Ha y, M.; Pascoe, M.; Tucke , B.V. A Si ua ional Analysis o Cu en Speech-Syn hesis Sys ems o Child Voices: A
Scoping Re iew o Quali a i e and Quan i a i e E idence. Appl. Sci. 2022,12, 5623. [C ossRe ]
10. Lee, K.-S. Ul asonic Dopple Based Silen Speech In e ace Using Pe cep ual Dis ance. Appl. Sci. 2022,12, 827. [C ossRe ]
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