Enhanced Multimedia Telehealth for Hearing Disabilities

描述（由申请人提供）：远程医疗或远程医疗已经开设了一个 为那些原本可能无法获得专业医疗服务的人提供专业医疗服务 获得适当的照顾。尽管在远程医疗方面有巨大的公共投资， 在这些倡议中，聋人或重听人遇到严重障碍， 由于有限的音频质量和有限的信号， 语言和唇读阅读能力。此外，目前的视频会议 系统依赖于硬件，使得这项技术的启动成本很高 升级。该项目提出了一个软件驱动的适应阵列， 目前的远程医疗系统将促进语言和手语 理解力该项目将实现三个目标：1）它将提高语言 通过开发实时语音驱动字幕系统， 自动转录医疗保健提供者的讲话， 病人和医疗保健提供者的远程医疗站点，2）它将促进 唇阅读和手语阅读通过开发一个高质量的低延迟 纯软件视频编码系统，可提供清晰的嘴唇运动场景 与语音和字幕同步，3）它将评估 这些技术创新在促进可接受的 远程医疗人员之间的语言理解水平 听觉频谱虽然拟议的目标侧重于有听力的人， 损失，预计远程保健的多媒体增强将 对听力正常的人也有很大的好处。的影响 拟议的创新具有深远意义。医疗专业服务包括： 急救服务，心脏病学，精神病学，目前使用远程医疗 网络系统将变得更容易为聋人和重听人使用 患者，包括许多患有听力损失的老年人。拟议 调整还将允许远程保健支持额外的服务， 作为言语/语言治疗和认知康复;因此，扩大 向农村和其他得不到充分服务的人口提供一系列服务。 改善聋人和重听人获得及时护理的机会， 改善这些人群的健康。此外，它还将减少双重 美国农村的耳聋隔离。拟议的创新将有 理论上和世界范围内的适用性，并将刺激与健康有关的研究， 远程医疗应用以及传统上不值得的需求 包括聋人、重听人和老年人在内的人口。

DESCRIPTION (Provided by Applicant): Telemedicine or telehealth has opened a world of specialty health services to persons who may otherwise be unable to access appropriate care. Despite enormous public investment in telehealth initiatives, people who are deaf or hard of hearing encounter serious barriers in accessing current systems because of limited audio quality and limited sign language and lip reading capability. In addition, current videoconferencing systems are hardware-dependent, rendering this technology costly to initiate and upgrade. This project proposes a software driven array of adaptations to current telehealth systems that will facilitate speech and sign language comprehension. The project will achieve three aims: 1) It will enhance language comprehension by developing a real-time voice driven captioning system that automatically transcribes the speech of health care providers for display at both patient and health care provider telehealth sites, 2) It wilI facilitate lip reading and sign language reading by developing a high quality low delay software-only video coding system that can deliver clear motion scenes of lips and hands in synchrony with both speech and captions, and 3) It will evaluate the effectiveness of these technological innovations in facilitating acceptable language comprehension levels in telehealth interactions among persons across the hearing spectrum. While the proposed aims focus on persons with hearing loss, it is expected that the multimedia enhancements to telehealth will significantly benefit persons with intact hearing as well. The effects of the proposed innovations are far-reaching. Medical specialty services including: emergency services, cardiology, psychiatry, which currently use telehealth network systems will become more accessible to deaf and hard of hearing patients, including many elderly persons with hearing loss. The proposed adaptations also will allow for telehealth to support additional services such as speech/language therapy, and cognitive rehabilitation; thus, broadening the array of services available to rural and other underserved populations. Improved access to timely care for deaf and hard of hearing persons will likely improve the health of these populations. In addition, it will reduce the dual isolation of deafness in rural America. The proposed innovations will have notional and worldwide applicability and will spur health-related research in telehealth applications as well as the need of traditionally undeserved populations including deaf, hard of hearing and elderly persons.