Biomedical speech processing research

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This equipment requested will support the research program of Dr. Castillo Guerra in the area of biomedical speech processing. Dr. Castillo Guerra's research focuses on acoustic studies of a group of motor neuron disorders that yield perturbations on the speech produced depending on the location of the lesion in the peripheral or central nervous system. The disorders being investigated include amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson disease, chorea, and dystonia among other neurological disorders. The research program combines speech processing, pattern recognition and data analysis techniques to automatically derive the acoustic perturbations manifested in the pathologic speech and determine unique acoustic patterns that correspond to the studied disorders.The requested technology will provide the technological infrastructure for data processing and investigating important assessment aspects of neurological disorders. The equipment will enable Dr. Castillo Guerra to develop a new assessment methodology based on objective judgments of the acoustic data and the derivation of automatically extracted models describing the perception of the speech perturbations caused by the neurological impairments.A secure data processing server that meets the memory, disk and processing  requirements of the research is key to achieving the short- and long- term objective of this investigation. Long term objectives include the development of reliable models and solution tools for research and assessment of all motor neuron disorders affecting normal patterns of speech production. This will contribute to accurately describing the speech perturbations manifested in the early stages of such neurological disorders, contributing to the reliability of assessment methods and rehabilitation techniques, as well as creating opportunities for medical research.