Portable nasometry unit
Nasality Microphone
The Nasality Microphone is a handheld nasometry unit that detects nasality in speech production. It uses a lightweight acoustic separator that is fitted with highly directional nasal and oral microphones. The portable design and USB compatibility makes the Nasality Microphone ideal for clinical or home-based speech therapy.
How nasometry works
The Nasality Microphone uses a special lightweight acoustic separator that is positioned above the upper lip. The acoustic separator is fitted with independent nasal and oral microphones.
Nasality is represented by a numerical value called nasalance, which is defined as the percentage of the total acoustic energy that is nasal:
Nasalance, which is calculated for voiced sounds only, can be monitored in real-time for biofeedback, or recorded for off-line assessment.
Software options
NasalanceViewer
NasalanceViewer is easy-to-use Windows software that provides an ideal introduction to nasometry:
- Provides real-time visual feedback of nasalance
- Provides off-line objective analysis of nasalance
- Provides auditory playback of speech production
- Waveform display with adjustable target cursor
- Skywriter game with adjustable target cloud
- Simple to use interface
- Windows 10, 8, 7 and Vista compatible
- 10 user license
NasalanceViewer 3D
In addition to providing numerical displays of nasalance and nasal-oral speech, NasalanceViewer 3D uses state-of-the-art computer animation and 3D modelling techniques to approximate velopharyngeal closure and nasal-oral airflow.
The animated 3D model consists of the lips, teeth, tongue, lower jaw, hard palate, soft palate and uvula. The transparency of these articulators can be adjusted to reveal hidden structures, and the model can be rotated 360°. Airflow clearly illustrates the difference between nasal, oral, voiced and voiceless sounds.
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| Nasal airflow (soft palate lowered) | Oral airflow (soft palate raised) |
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| Voiced airflow (intermittent flow) | Voiceless airflow (continuous flow) |
Additional features include:
- Real-time visual feedback of nasalance
- Off-line objective analysis of nasalance
- Auditory playback of speech production
- Photorealistic and stylised views
- Windows 10 64-bit and 8 64-bit compatible
icSpeech Professional Edition
The Nasality Microphone is also compatible with icSpeech Professional Edition, which supports a wealth of additional features, including:
- Additional displays: bar, waveform, spectrogram and video
- Additional parameters: nasalance, pitch, timing, nasal and oral acoustic energy
- Six games with adjustable targets and rewards
- Extensive analysis features
- Data export facility
- Recorder with picture and word prompting
- Combines nasometry with EPG, airflow, voicing and video data
- Windows 10, 8, 7 and Vista compatible
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Bar displayThe real-time Bar is a useful biofeedback tool that shows a simple bar, which moves upwards with increased nasalance. This allows the user to monitor nasality, make corrections, and instantly see the result. |
Waveform displayThe real-time Waveform display is often used in therapy because it allows the user to see the dynamics of their speech during the utterance of complete words or phrases. |
GamesEach of the six interactive games feature adjustable targets, rewards and can be controlled with nasalance, pitch, nasal or oral acoustic energy. |
Acoustic separation
For accurate results, it is important that there is a good seal between the face, just above the upper lip, and the acoustic separator. This prevents oral sounds being detected by the nasal microphone and vice versa. To ensure a good seal, the acoustic separator incorporates large and small facial contours. Simply rotate the nasal and oral microphones so they point to the side that best fits the contours of the face. The acoustic separator is also fitted with highly directional noise cancelling microphones, which further improve the acoustic separation.
Microphone matching
For accurate results, it is also important that the nasal and oral microphones are acoustically matched. During the manufacturing process, both the sensitivity and frequency response of the nasal and oral microphones are individually matched. This eliminates the need for the user to calibrate the Nasality Microphone. The microphone matching characteristics are supplied with each device.
Cleaning
The Nasality Microphone is easy to dismantle and clean. The foam windshields covering the nasal and oral microphones can be removed and replaced, or washed in warm soapy water. The individual microphones, acoustic separator and handle can be removed and thoroughly cleaned with disposable disinfection wipes.
Specification
Microphones
| Left channel | Nasal speech |
| Right channel | Oral speech |
| Type | Electret condenser |
| Directionality | Uni-directional |
| Frequency response (band-pass filter disabled) | 100 – 15,000Hz |
| Frequency response (band-pass filter enabled) | 350 - 650Hz |
| Sensitivity | -40dB at 1kHz (0dB = 1V/Pa) |
| Output impedance | 2.2k ohm |
| Power supply | 1.5V – 10V |
USB audio adaptor
| Microphone input | 2 channel stereo |
| Sample rates | 48kHz, 44.1kHz. 16kHz and 8kHz |
| Resolution | 16bit |
| THD | -90dB |
| Frequency response | 20 – 20,000 Hz |
| Input range | 0 – 1.25 Vrms |
| Dynamic range | 96dB |
| Record gain range | -6 - 33dB |
| Supply voltage | 4.5 - 5.5 VDC via USB |
| Total power consumption | 33 mA |
System requirements
| Supported operating systems | Windows 10, 8, 7 or Vista |
| Supported computers | Desktop, laptop, tablet |
| CPU | Minimum 1 GHz Intel® Pentium® or equivalent |
| Memory | Minimum 1 GB of RAM |
| Storage | 100 MB of free hard disk space |
| Connectivity | USB 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 |
| Power | USB bus powered |
Get quote
Package includes:
- Nasality Microphone
- Carry case
- Four microphone windshields
- User manual
- 12 months guarantee
- NasalanceViewer software (optional)
- NasalanceViewer software 3D (optional)
- icSpeech Professional Edition software (optional)
