A portable analyzer for vocal signal monitoring

A prototype of portable vocal analyzer is proposed in this paper that is conceived to estimate the parameters that allow voice disorders to be identified. The basic architecture of the vocal analyzer is described, which is based on a sensor that is worn by the person under monitoring. Two alternative sensors are investigated: an accelerometer and an Electret Condenser Microphone (ECM). While the former would be characterized by a low sensitivity with respect to air-borne effects, the latter would provide a larger bandwidth, thus allowing parameters related to the vowel quality to be estimated. Particular attention will be paid towards traceability assurance and uncertainty estimation and a calibration procedure for each of the estimated parameters will be proposed. Preliminary results are here reported that refer to the estimation of the parameters Sound Pressure Level (SPL) and fundamental frequency (F₀) through the accelerometer and ECM based measuring chains.