Software

CoBeN speech and voice parameterization toolbox is a set of Matlab functions that enables to perform complex acoustic analysis of speech disorders that are mainly manifested in different types of dysarthria or in apraxia of speech (AOS). A list of these features and related Matlab functions can be found in Table 1. This toolbox will help neurologists or clinical pathologists to get a quick and comprehensive insight about a pathology present in a speech/voice recording (the toolbox is tuned for 16 kHz sampling frequency). It also contains 2 demo files demonstrating parameterization of connected speech and sustained phonation.

The toolbox is available upon request (irena.rektorova@ceitec.muni.cz) under MIT license. It has been developed for Windows and is partially dependent on Praat libraries (praatcon.exe, http://www.fon.hum.uva.nl/praat/download_win.html).

Table 1: HD/AOS dimensions, specific disorders, and Matlab functions that are used to quantify them

 HD/AOS   dimension and   specific disorder

Speech tasks

Acoustic feature

Feature definition
Name of the related Matlab function

 Phonation

 Airflow   insufficiency

 Sustained   phonation

MPT

Maximum phonation time, aerodynamic efficiency of the   vocal tract measured as the maximum duration of the   prolonged vowel.

Function (file): derive_speech_rate.m
Third-party dependency: Praat

 Irregular pitch   fluctuations

 Sustained   phonation

relF0SD

Standard deviation of fundamental frequency relative to   its mean, variation in frequency of vocal fold vibration.

Function (file): praat_F0.m

Third-party dependency: Praat

 Microperturbations   in frequency

 Sustained   phonation

Jitter (PPQ)

 Frequency perturbation, extent of variation of the voice   range.   Jitter is defined as the variability of the F0 of   speech from one   cycle to the next.

 Function (file): praat_info.m

 Third-party dependency: Praat

 Microperturbations   in amplitude

 Sustained   phonation

Shimmer (APQ)

 Amplitude perturbation, representing rough speech.   Shimmer is   defined as the sequence of maximum   extent of the signal   amplitude within each vocal cycle.

 Function (file): praat_info.m

 Third-party dependency: Praat

 Increased noise

 Sustained   phonation

HNR

 Harmonics-to-noise ratio, the amount of noise in the   speech   signal, mainly due to incomplete vocal fold   closure. HNR is   defined as the amplitude of noise   relative to tonal components in   speech.

 Function (file): praat_harmonicity.m

 Third-party dependency: Praat

 Aperiodicity

 Sustained   phonation

DUV

 Degree of unvoiced segments, the fraction of pitch   frames   marked as unvoiced.

 Function (file): praat_info.m

 Third-party dependency: Praat

 Tremor of jaw

 Sustained   phonation

relF1SD, relF2SD

 Standard deviation of first (F1) and second (F2) formant   relative   to its mean. Formants are related to   resonances  of the oro-naso-   pharyngeal tract and are   modified by position of tongue and jaw.

 Function (file): praat_formants.m

 Third-party dependency: Praat

  Articulation

 Decreased tongue   movement   (imprecise vowels)

Monologue, reading

VAI

 Vowel articulation index, based on formant   centralization,   defined as VAI = (F1a + F2i)/(F1i + F1u +   F2a + F2u).

 Function (file): vai.m

 Third-party dependency: no

 Rigidity of tongue   and jaw


Monologue, reading



relF1SD, relF2SD

 Standard deviation of first (F1) and second (F2)   formant  relative   to its mean.

 Function (file): praat_formants.m

 Third-party dependency: Praat

 Slow alternating   motion rate

Diadochokinetic  task

PR

 Pace rate, representing the number of syllable   vocalizations per   second. Considering first 30   syllables.

 Function (file): ddk_features.m

 Third-party dependency: no

 Instability of   diadochokinetic   pace

Diadochokinetic task

COV4–10

 Coefficient of variation, defined as 100 ´ SDC4–   10/meanC1–3,   where SDC4–10 stands for   standard deviation of duration of 4th–   10th DDK   cycles (pa-ta-ka), and meanC1–3 means average     duration of the first three DDK cycle.

 Function (file): ddk_features.m

 Third-party dependency: no

 Instability of   diadochokinetic   pace

Diadochokinetic task

RI

 Rhythm instability, defined as sum of absolute   deviations from a   regression line modelling each     DDK cycle duration, weighted to   the total DDK   performance time.

 Function (file): ddk_features.m

 Third-party dependency: no

 Acceleration of   diadochokinetic   pace

Diadochokinetic task

PA

 Pace acceleration, defined as PA = 100 ´   (avCycDur4–6 –   avCycDur7–9)/avCycDur1–3,   where  avCycDurX–Y  is average   duration of cycles   X–Y.

 Function (file): ddk_features.m

 Third-party dependency: no

 Acceleration of   diadochokinetic   pace

Diadochokinetic task

RA

 Rhythm acceleration, defined as gradient of   regression line   modelling DDK cycle durations   (positive values mean   acceleration).

 Function (file): ddk_features.m

 Third-party dependency: no

 Prosody

 Monoloudness

Monologue, reading

relSEOSD

 Speech loudness variation, defined as a standard   deviation of   intensity contour relative to its mean   after removing silences   exceeding 50 ms.

 Function (file): energy.m

 Third-party dependency: Praat

 Monopitch

Monologue, reading

relF0SD

 Pitch variation, defined as a standard deviation of   F0 contour   relative to its mean.

 Function (file): praat_F0.m

 Third-party dependency: Praat

 Inappropriate   silences

Reading

SPIR

 Number of pauses relative to total speech time   after removing   periods of silence lasting less than   50 ms.

 Function (file): derive_speech_rate.m

 Third-party dependency: Praat

 Higher proportion   of silence time

Reading

PPR

 Percentual pause ratio, defined as total duration   of silences   (longer than 50 ms)/total duration of   speech.

 Function (file): derive_speech_rate.m

 Third-party dependency: Praat

 Longer duration of   silences

Reading

DurMED

 Median duration of silences longer than 50 ms.

 Function (file): derive_speech_rate.m

 Third-party dependency: Praat

Higher variability of   silence duration

Reading

DurMAD

Median absolute deviation of silence duration   (silences longer than 50 ms).
Function (file): derive_speech_rate.m

Third-party dependency: Praat

Unnatural speech rate

Reading

AR

Number of speech sounds produced per second   after pauses longer than 50 ms were removed.

Function (file): derive_speech_rate.m

Third-party dependency: Praat





CoBeN online handwriting/drawing parameterization toolbox  is a set of Matlab functions that enables to perform complex quantification of graphomotor disabilities and cognitive deficits that are mainly manifested in Parkinson’s and/or Alzheimer’s disease. A list of these parameters and related Matlab functions can be found in Table 1. This toolbox will help neurologists or clinical psychologists to get a quick and comprehensive insight about a pathology present in the process/product of handwriting/drawing. The toolbox is tuned for signals digitized by devices using 150 Hz sampling frequency and 2540 lpi resolution, e.g. Wacom Intuos Pro. The handwriting data must be stored in the *.svc format. The toolbox contains a demo file demonstrating parameterization a sentence.

The toolbox is available upon request (irena.rektorova@ceitec.muni.cz) under MIT license. It has been developed for Matlab R2014b.

Table 1: Specific handwriting/drawing disorders and Matlab functions that are used to quantify them (Feature name format INF: DIR–FN (HL), where INF stands for processed information (ON for on-surface, AIR for in-air, PRESS for pressure, TILT for tilt, and AZIM for azimuth), DIR denotes direction (G for global, H for horizontal, and V for vertical), FN contains feature name, and HL a statistic, that is used for transformation to a scalar value. For example, AIR: V-ACC (mean) means mean of vertical acceleration during in-air movement.)

Specific disorder Task Parameter  Feature definition 
Name of the related Matlab function

Higher duration of writing/drawing

 Graphemes “l”, connecting two dots, sentence, Archimedean spiral, pentagon copy test

ON: DUR

Duration of on-surface movement.

Function (file): writing_analysis.m

Memory and/or visuospatial deficits

 Sentence, pentagon copy test

AIR: DUR

Duration of in-air movement.

Function (file): writing_analysis.m


Dysfluency in line (a line/stroke is associated with stuttering, freezing, tremor or unevenness)

Graphemes “l”, connecting two dots, sentence, Archimedean spiral, pentagon copy test

ON: {H,V}–SNRX

 

Signal-to-noise ratio of vertical and horizontal movement projection.

Function (file): writing_snr.m



Archimedean spiralDoS

Degree of spiral drawing severity (San Luciano et al. 2016).

Function (file): spiral_features.m

2ndSm

Second order smoothness (San Luciano et al. 2016).

Function (file): spiral_features.m

1stZC

First order zero crossing (San Luciano et al. 2016).

Function (file): spiral_features.m

Dysfluency in time (big variations in velocity profile)

 Graphemes “l”, connecting two dots, sentence, Archimedean spiral, pentagon copy test

ON: NCV

 

Number of changes in the velocity profile.

Function (file): writing_speed.m

ON: RNCV

Relative number of changes in the velocity profile.

Function (file): writing_speed.m

 Progressing fatigue

 Sentence

ON: SDUR (slope)

 

Slope of the duration of strokes on-surface.

Function (file): stroke_analysis.m



AIR: SDUR (slope)

Slope of the duration of strokes in-air.

Function (file): stroke_analysis.m

SDURR (slope)

Slope of ratio of the on-surface/in-air stroke duration.

Function (file): stroke_analysis.m

 Low velocity

Graphemes “l”, connecting two dots, sentence, Archimedean spiral, pentagon copy test

ON: {G,H,V}–VEL (mean)

 

Mean velocity.

Function (file): writing_speed.m

ON: {G,H,V}–VEL (max)

Maximum velocity.

Function (file): writing_speed.m

 Low acceleration

 Graphemes “l”, connecting two dots, sentence, Archimedean spiral, pentagon copy test

ON: {G,H,V}–ACC (mean)

 

Mean acceleration.

Function (file): writing_speed.m

ON: {G,H,V}–ACC (max)

Maximum acceleration.

Function (file): writing_speed.m

Lower variability of velocity

Graphemes “l”, connecting two dots, sentence, Archimedean spiral, pentagon copy test

ON: {G,H,V}–VEL (std)

 

Standard deviation of velocity.

Function (file): writing_speed.m

Lower variability of acceleration


Graphemes “l”, connecting two dots, sentence, Archimedean spiral, pentagon copy test



ON: {G,H,V}–ACC (std)

Standard deviation of acceleration.

Function (file): writing_speed.m

Gradually decreasing velocity

Graphemes “l”, sentence, Archimedean spiral

ON: {G,H,V}–VEL (slope)

 

Slope of velocity profile.

Function (file): writing_speed.m

Gradually decreasing acceleration

Graphemes “l”, sentence, Archimedean spiral

ON: {G,H,V}–ACC (slope)

 

Slope of acceleration profile.

Function (file): writing_speed.m

Too high pressure on the pen tip

Graphemes “l”, connecting two dots, sentence, Archimedean spiral, pentagon copy test

PRESS (mean)

Mean pressure.

Function (file): read_SVC_file.m

Very low pressure on the pen tip

Graphemes “l”, connecting two dots, sentence, Archimedean spiral, pentagon copy test

PRESS (mean)

 

Mean pressure.

Function (file): read_SVC_file.m

Unstable pressure on the pen tip

Graphemes “l”, connecting two dots, sentence, Archimedean spiral, pentagon copy test

PRESS (rstd)

 

Relative standard deviation of pressure.

Function (file): read_SVC_file.m

Disability to perform longer strokes (frequent interruptions and pen elevations)

Sentence, Archimedean spiral

NINT


Number of interruptions.

Function (file): number_of_interruptions.m

Instability in amplitude of letters (micrographia)

Graphemes “l”

ON: V–LMAX (rstd)

Relative standard deviation of local maxima in vertical projection.

Function (file): local_analysis.m

Instability in inclination of letters

Graphemes “l”

AZIM (rstd)

Relative standard deviation of azimuth.

Function (file): read_SVC_file.m

Unstable tilt of pen

Graphemes “l”, sentence, Archimedean spiral

TILT (rstd)

Relative standard deviation of tilt.

Function (file): read_SVC_file.m

Unstable density (unstable distance between letters, words, threads of a spiral)

Archimedean spiral


ON: SPI

Spiral precision index (Cascarano et al. 2019).

Function (file): spiral_features.m



TGHTNS

Spiral tightness (San Luciano et al. 2016).

Function (file): spiral_features.m

SWVI

Variability of spiral width (San Luciano et al. 2016).

Function (file): spiral_features.m

SentenceON: NIAI

Number of on-surface intra-stroke intersections.

Function (file): intersection_analysis.m

ON: RNIAI

Relative number of on-surface intra-stroke intersections.

Function (file): intersection_analysis.m