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Speaking After Loss of Tongue and Larynx
The Problem
Results
Access to personalized augmentative communication applications and devices typically takes more than
6 months to obtain. A 62 year old Air Force Veteran faced with losing his entire tongue and larynx (voice
box) to cancer needed a text-to-speech device within two weeks. Given his inability to articulate, he
would be unable to use an artificial larynx. The Voice, Speech & Swallowing service needed to think
outside the box to find a way for him to communicate.
Aim/Goal
To ensure this patient planned for total laryngectomy/glossectomy would have appropriate and effective
means of communication after losing his voice and articulation ability to cancer
The Team
Elana Katz, MS, CCC-SLP
Laina Piera, MS, CCC-SLP
Cynthia Wise Wager, MS, CCC-SLP, BCS-S
Scharukh Jalisi, MD, MA, FACS
Katie Deary, DNP, APRN-BC
Elisabeth Nuboer, BS, VocaliD
The Interventions
Research voice banking options in the community, specifically for veterans
Connect with a Speech-Language Pathologist at the local VA Hospital to assist the patient in gaining
service eligibility
Coordinate a visit with the patient, family, and representative from VocaliD, an online voice-banking
service, to initiate voice-banking process prior to surgery
Instruct patient on the appropriate headset to purchase for good quality recordings of 3000
sentences
Ensure the patient completes approximately 6+ hours of voice banking prior to surgery, with a
VocaliD representative monitoring recording quality throughout
Encourage VocaliD to build the patient’s synthesized voice in a timely manner, for use on his cell
phone in the hospital after surgery
Confirm the patient is scheduled for follow-up with the VA Hospital to obtain an
Augmentative/Alternative Communication (AAC) device
Clips of the patient’s real
voice prior to surgery
Clips of the patient’s
synthesized voice
Two weeks after initiation of voice banking, while in the hospital, the patient was able to use text-tospeech for communication from the VocaliD app on his cell phone, with a portable speaker, saying, "I
sound just like that!"
Lessons Learned
Synthesized voices can help maintain a patient’s vocal identity, sound natural, and allow for
generation of innumerable novel utterances.
A user-friendly online service is available to assist patient’s who will lose their voice to cancer in
completing a voice-banking process in a timely and efficient manner.
Representatives from VocaliD are readily available for in-person assistance, providing an excellent
patient experience during a difficult time.
Voice banking is available to anyone, both for future use or “voice preservation,” and for donation to
others losing their ability to communicate.
Next Steps
Determine the appropriate procedure for patient’s with private insurance to have access to voicebanking technology in the same timely manner as this veteran
For more information, contact:
Elana Katz, MS, CCC-SLP at ekatz2@bidmc.harvard.edu
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Dublin Core
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Title
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Silverman Symposium
Description
An account of the resource
Each year the Silverman Symposium poster session offers BIDMC staff and affiliates the opportunity to share experiences and learn about efforts to improve Quality and Safety.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2021
Silverman Poster
Primary Contact
If you would like more information about this project, contact this person. Make email address clickable.
Elana Katz (<a href="mailto:ekatz2@bidmc.harvard.edu">ekatz2@bidmc.harvard.edu</a>)
Department
Any departments listed on the poster or identified in the spreadsheet.
Voice, Speech & Swallowing
Project Team
Elana Katz
Laina Piera
Cynthia Wise Wager
Scharukh Jalisi
Katie Deary
Elisabeth Nuboer
BIDMC Location
The BIDMC location where the poster team resides if identified in spreadsheet. If not identified, choose BIDMC.
BIDMC
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Speaking After Loss of Tongue and Larynx
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018
Format
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pdf
Effectiveness
Patient and Family-Centeredness