Artificial neural network analysis to assess hypernasality in patients treated for oral or oropharyngeal cancer

Objective. Investigation of applicability of neural network feature analysis of nasalance in speech to assess hypernasality in speech of patients treated for oral or oropharyngeal cancer. Patients and methods. Speech recordings of 51 patients and of 18 control speakers were evaluated regarding hypernasality, articulation, intelligibility, and patient-reported speech outcome. Feature analysis of nasalance was performed on /a/, /i/, and /u/ and on the entire stretch of speech. Results. Nasalance distinguished significantly between patients and controls. Nasalance in /a/ and /i/ predicted best intelligibility, nasalance in /a/ predicted best articulation, and nasalance in /i/ and /u/ predicted best hypernasality. Conclusion. Feature analysis of nasalance in oral or oropharyngeal cancer patients is feasible; prediction of subjective parameters varies between moderate and poor.