Use of a biomechanical tongue model to predict the impact of tongue surgery on speech production

TL;DR

This study uses a detailed biomechanical tongue model to predict how different tongue surgeries and reconstructions affect speech production, specifically vowel formants, without compensatory adjustments.

Contribution

It introduces a 3D finite element model of the tongue that realistically incorporates muscle anatomy to simulate surgical impacts on speech.

Findings

Reconstructed tongue stiffness influences vowel formants

Surgical resection alters vocal tract area functions

Model predicts speech changes without compensatory strategies

Abstract

This paper presents predictions of the consequences of tongue surgery on speech production. For this purpose, a 3D finite element model of the tongue is used that represents this articulator as a deformable structure in which tongue muscles anatomy is realistically described. Two examples of tongue surgery, which are common in the treatment of cancers of the oral cavity, are modelled, namely a hemiglossectomy and a large resection of the mouth floor. In both cases, three kinds of possible reconstruction are simulated, assuming flaps with different stiffness. Predictions are computed for the cardinal vowels /i, a, u/ in the absence of any compensatory strategy, i.e. with the same motor commands as the one associated with the production of these vowels in non-pathological conditions. The estimated vocal tract area functions and the corresponding formants are compared to the ones obtained under normal conditions