Self-made voice dosimeter

Abstract

Voice dosimeters are useful tools for gathering voice production data in the daily lives of individuals with voice disorders. In this tutorial, instructions for a low-cost (less than $100), easy-to-assemble voice dosimeter are provided. This do-it-yourself (DIY) voice dosimeter is validated based on performance results. The DIY voice dosimeter was worn by 10 vocally healthy participants. The participants produced a sustained /a/ vowel and then read a text with three different vocal efforts. These tasks were recorded by the DIY voice dosimeter and a reference microphone simultaneously. The expanded uncertainty of the mean error in the estimation of these two quantities as measured by the DIY dosimeter was performed by simultaneously comparing signals acquired through the reference microphone and the dosimeter themselves. For measures of sound pressure level, the DIY voice dosimeter had a mean error of −0.68 dB with an uncertainty of 0.56 dB. For fundamental frequency, the mean error was 1.56 Hz for female participants and 1.11 Hz for male participants, with an uncertainty of 0.62 Hz and 0.34Hz for females and males, respectively. The mean error and uncertainties for the DIY voice dosimeter are comparable to the most accurate voice dosimeters that were previously on the market.