A Platform for the Delivery of Speech Treatment for Dysarthria in Multisystemic Ataxia

Hereditary ataxias can lead to impaired speech, which can cause social isolation, and ability to complete daily tasks. A recently developed therapeutic intervention for dysarthria (a neuromuscular speech disorder)- is a therapy program of vocal exercises designed by speech pathologists. Due to the need for intensive and sustained practice of these exercises, combined with the requirement of clinical oversight, a novel method of delivery is required. The delivery must allow patients to perform these exercises in a systematic way, provide feedback to their supporting clinician in a timely manner, and be provided with graphical feedback of their progress in realtime both during the exercises and over the longer term. The SpeechATTAX project has developed a tablet-based application that supports all of these requirements through novel audiovisual biofeedback, notifications, and text information tailored to the patient's condition and the stage of progress in their therapy. This paper presents the system architecture of the application, conceptual challenges and solutions, and shows how the platform supports qualitative feedback from a representative population.