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. 2018 Nov;144(5):EL392.
doi: 10.1121/1.5066350.

Three-dimensional printable ultrasound transducer stabilization system

Donald Derrick  1 , Christopher Carignan  2 , Wei-Rong Chen  3 , Muawiyath Shujau  4 , Catherine T Best  5
Affiliations

Three-dimensional printable ultrasound transducer stabilization system

Donald Derrick et al. J Acoust Soc Am. 2018 Nov.

Abstract

When using ultrasound imaging of the tongue for speech recording/research, submental transducer stabilization is required to prevent the ultrasound transducer from translating or rotating in relation to the tongue. An iterative prototype of a lightweight three-dimensional-printable wearable ultrasound transducer stabilization system that allows flexible jaw motion and free head movement is presented. The system is completely non-metallic, eliminating interference with co-recorded signals, thus permitting co-collection and co-registration with articulometry systems. A motion study of the final version demonstrates that transducer rotation is limited to 1.25° and translation to 2.5 mm-well within accepted tolerances.

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Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
(Color online) Schematic of assembled non-metallic ultrasound transducer stabilization system, not including the headpiece and bolt adjusters.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
(Color online) Schematic of headpiece and bolt adjusters.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
(Color online) Photo of the headset in place. Left = front, middle = side, right = isometric view.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Articulate Instruments Ltd. (2012). Articulate Assistant Advanced Ultrasound Module User Manual, revision 2.14 ( Articulate Instruments Ltd, Edinburgh, UK: ).
    1. Barbosa, A. V. , and Vatikiotis-Bateson, E. (2015). “ Optical flow analysis for measuring tongue-motion,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 136(4), 2105.10.1121/1.4899572 - DOI
    1. Carignan, C. (2017). “ Covariation of nasalization, tongue height, and breathiness in the realization of F1 of Southern French nasal vowels,” J. Phonetics 63, 87–105.10.1016/j.wocn.2017.04.005 - DOI
    1. Carignan, C. (2018). “ Using ultrasound and nasalance to separate oral and nasal contributions to formant frequencies of nasalized vowels,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 143(5), 2588–2601.10.1121/1.5034760 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Derrick, D. (2011). “ Syllable iterance rate influences categorical variation of English flaps during normal speech,” in New Zealand Institute of Language, Brain and Behaviour Annual Workshop(NZILBB), Christchurch, New Zealand.

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