Design of Electrolarynx to Increase Energy Efficiency by Varying the Driving Source

Abstract

The larynx is an organ in the human respiratory system that forms the basis of the speech production system. An electrolarynx is a device used by most laryngectomees to regain their verbal communication. Our objective was to design an electrolarynx with increased energy efficiency by modifying the driving source. Initially, we designed the electrolarynx to accommodate various driving signals. We then compared the voice output obtained by different input signals for quality and measured energy consumption using a digital multimeter. When compared to existing methods, the proposed driving source was found to be 11.1% more energy efficient. Voice quality was also better than the traditional driving source by 31.6%.

Keywords

• driving signal
• electrolarynx
• energy efficiency
• laryngectomee
• larynx
• speech