KR102109343B1 - Palatal motion sensing module and monitoring system for pronunciation correction and speech therapy - Google Patents

Abstract

The pronunciation correction monitoring system according to the present invention includes a sensing module 100 disposed on the ceiling of the mouth in the oral cavity; A signal processor 200 for converting and calculating signals measured through the sensing module 100; And a monitoring unit 300 that expresses the position of the tongue through sensing information through the sensing module 100 and the signal processing unit 200, and the sensing module 100 is arranged along the ceiling inside the oral cavity. A plurality of sensing sensors 110, a flexible substrate 120 on which the plurality of sensing sensors 110 are disposed, a biocompatible coating layer 130 formed to surround the flexible substrate 120, and the flexible substrate 120 It includes a fixed hook 140 that is detachably coupled to the teeth in the oral cavity while connected to both sides of the, and the plurality of detection sensors 110 detects the tongue position by measuring the pressure or distance according to the tongue position in the oral cavity To the monitoring unit 300.

Description

{Palatal motion sensing module and monitoring system for pronunciation correction and speech therapy}

The present invention relates to a pronunciation correction monitoring system for articulation disorder patients or the general public, and more specifically, inserting a sensing module disposed in the palate in the oral cavity and checking the state of the tongue contacting the sensing module according to the patient's pronunciation. It is about how to induce correct pronunciation correction by monitoring.

In general, children or adults with speech disorders undergo articulation through a series of processes.

In order to perform articulation treatment, it is necessary to check the articulation ability of a patient or a subject by confirming that the articulator, specifically the tongue tongue, legend, and tongue of the tongue are correctly positioned at the correct articulation point corresponding to each phoneme.

Therefore, in the articulation treatment, the position of the tongue inside the patient's mouth is a very important factor, and in the case of a speech-impaired patient, whether or not the condition can be arbitrarily changed by visually confirming his / her articulation position information is treated It makes a clear difference in the course of the process.

On the other hand, in the existing articulation treatment process, specific devices or devices that can confirm the location of the patient's tongue are incomplete, and indirectly inferred through the subjective evaluation or audiovisual judgment of the therapist.

Particularly, in the case of Yangsoonum produced by contact of the upper and lower lip, a relatively accurate therapist's audiovisual evaluation is possible, but alveolars where the lingual horn contacts the alveolar, palate-alveolars where the lingual horn contacts the alveolar pedicle. In the case of velars where the lingual sulcus moves toward the palate, an evaluation relying only on auditory judgment is made because the articulation position exists in the oral cavity.

With this situation, different evaluations are made between therapists about the articulation ability of the same patient, which leads to the inability to provide optimal service to the patient.

Recently, a technique has been introduced to fix a patient's tongue position using a few simple instruments, or to enable a tongue activity within a certain area, but this method can determine the exact location of the tongue in the oral cavity. There is a limit to providing feedback to patients and subjects.

On the other hand, regarding the technology of sensing the interior of the oral cavity using a piezoelectric element, reference may be made to Patent No. 10-1822329, wherein in the above document, it is coupled to the occlusal surface, which is one surface of the tooth attachment part, so that the tooth fits the tooth attachment part. It is to determine the patient's jaw joint disorder through a sensor that senses a physical force, and it can be seen that it provides a method of solving the problem by wearing orthodontic treatment or wearing an intraoral device in the form of a mouthpiece.

As described above, the conventional technologies measure pressure generated on the teeth using a piezoelectric element disposed on the teeth of the oral cavity and enable various tests using bio information derived based on the measured results. Although it is known, there is no description of a specific method for correcting the pronunciation generated according to the position of the tongue in the oral cavity.

The present invention provides a method for improving the progress of treatment by real-time monitoring of the position of the tongue in a speech therapy process and feedback to the patient through a sensing module inserted into the oral cavity of a patient in need of speech therapy or pronunciation correction That is the purpose.

In particular, the present invention provides a method of implementing a piezoelectric sensor or a light sensor-based sensing unit and a diagnostic monitoring unit to accurately monitor a patient's tongue position.

The pronunciation correction monitoring system according to the present invention for achieving the above object is a sensing module 100 disposed on the ceiling of the mouth in the oral cavity; A signal processor 200 for converting and calculating signals measured through the sensing module 100; And a monitoring unit 300 that expresses the position of the tongue through sensing information through the sensing module 100 and the signal processing unit 200, and the sensing module 100 is arranged along the ceiling inside the oral cavity. A plurality of sensing sensors 110, a flexible substrate 120 on which the plurality of sensing sensors 110 are disposed, a biocompatible coating layer 130 formed to surround the flexible substrate 120, and the flexible substrate 120 It includes a fixed hook 140 that is detachably coupled to the teeth in the oral cavity while connected to both sides of the, and the plurality of detection sensors 110 detects the tongue position by measuring the pressure or distance according to the tongue position in the oral cavity To the monitoring unit 300.

In the articulation or pronunciation treatment state, the patient's tongue comes into contact with the sensing module 100, and in this case, the sensing sensor 110 constituting the sensing module 100 outputs a leveled characteristic according to the intensity of contact. Is a piezoelectric sensor.

In the case of the sensing module attached to the palate inside the oral cavity, the patient's tongue touches the sensing module in the process of articulation or pronunciation treatment in a state based on the piezoelectric sensor, wherein the sensors inside the sensing module depend on the contact strength. Output the leveled output characteristics.

The measured signal undergoes a series of signal processing processes such as noise removal through the signal processing unit and positioning steps for each sensor position, and the signal-processed signal displays the location of the patient's tongue according to pronunciation through the monitoring unit.

The sensing module inserted in the oral cavity should be standardized to the characteristics of the individual patient's oral cavity, and should be made of a biocompatible material as a device that is temporarily inserted into the body.

In particular, in the case of a sensing module based on an optical sensor, the time of flight (TOF) applying a laser Doppler effect can be used to calculate the shape of the tongue by measuring the reflected time of each collected signal according to the sensor arrangement. do. This is to make it easy to visually observe the shape or shape of the tongue as well as the position of the tongue with respect to the palate in the oral cavity, which may help feedback between the therapist and the patient.

In addition, the sensor core is mounted on a flexible printed circuit board such as a flexible printed circuit board (PCB) to minimize patient discomfort when the sensing module is inserted into the oral cavity. The connection between the sensing module and the signal processing unit to the monitoring unit can increase the autonomy of the patient by applying a wireless module to the end of the sensing module in addition to a wired method.

A series of mounting devices may be configured on the left and right sides of the sensing module so that the sensing module is completely in close contact with the upper part of the oral cavity, and the sensing module is mounted on the upper teeth through a device such as a dental prosthetic device. Attachment can be facilitated.

In the signal processing unit, a series of signal processing circuits or filters are required to remove noise generated or introduced by the data transmission line or sensor core connected to the sensing module, and the tongue obtained through the sensor core having a specific arrangement In order to display the data for the monitoring unit, a signal processing operation is performed by a micro controller or the like.

The monitoring unit expresses the location information of the tongue located on the inside of the oral cavity transmitted through the sensing module or the signal processing unit on the screen display. At this time, the desired tongue position information or supplementary explanation related to the actual tongue position in the patient's oral cavity is fed back to the patient in the state of being stored as back data on the monitoring unit.

In particular, in addition to the monitoring unit, it is possible to configure the monitoring unit in conjunction with the teaching aids of pronunciation correction through a separate mobile phone application and GUI program.

The monitoring system for pronunciation correction and speech therapy according to the present invention as described above improves indirect and inefficient methods such as subjective judgment or tactile perception of the therapist in the process of existing speech therapy or speech correction and improves the pronunciation of the patient. It accurately monitors the position of the tongue along and enables feedback.

In particular, it is possible to improve the function of the couple's head by providing information about the function of the couple's head found in the oral habits of patients with cleft palate.

In addition, the technology for detecting the position of the tongue through the sensor arrangement and the combination signal of the intraoral sensing part described in the present invention has advantages of simple configuration and easy manipulation and confirmation of the therapist.

Figure 1 shows a monitoring system for speech correction and speech therapy according to an embodiment of the present invention, specifically showing a tongue position detection system (Tongue-position-graphy (TPG) system) for speech therapy and speech correction It is one drawing.
2 is a view showing the application of the data movement path and the signal processing unit of the monitoring system according to the present invention.
3 is a diagram illustrating a wireless data transmission method of a monitoring system for pronunciation correction and speech therapy according to the present invention.
4 is a view showing the structure of the sensing module constituting the monitoring system for the pronunciation correction and speech therapy of the present inventors, the arrangement method and the position in the oral cavity.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of detecting a sensing level for each contact intensity through a piezoelectric sensor constituting a sensing module in a monitoring system for pronunciation correction and speech therapy according to the present invention.
6 is a flowchart of a method for deriving a sensing level for each contact strength of a sensor unit in a tongue-position-graphy (TPG) system.
7 is a view showing an example of tongue position detection by applying a piezoelectric sensor on a monitoring system for pronunciation correction and speech therapy according to the present invention.
8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method for detecting the shape and shape of a tongue according to a patient's pronunciation through an optical sensor on a monitoring system for pronunciation correction and speech therapy according to the present invention.
9 shows a specific method for measuring the distance between the optical sensor and the tongue in the oral cavity.
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation of a sensing module constituting a monitoring system for pronunciation correction and speech therapy according to a pronunciation example including alveolar sound, alveolar alveolar sound, and research sound.
FIG. 11 shows that the shape of the tongue sensed through the sensing module is displayed in three dimensions when the mouth sounds are pronounced.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but will be implemented in various different forms, and only these embodiments allow the disclosure of the present invention to be complete, and the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. It is provided to inform you completely. The same reference numbers in the drawings refer to the same elements.

It should be noted that in adding reference numerals to the components of each drawing, the same components have the same reference numerals as possible even though they are displayed on different drawings. In addition, in describing the present invention, when it is determined that detailed descriptions of related well-known structures or functions may obscure the subject matter of the present invention, detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted.

Hereinafter, a monitoring system for pronunciation correction and speech therapy according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 11.

First, the overall configuration of a monitoring system for pronunciation correction and speech therapy will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

The monitoring system for speech correction and speech therapy according to the present invention specifically targets a tongue-position-graphy (TPG) system for speech therapy and speech correction.

The monitoring system for pronunciation correction and speech therapy includes a sensing module 100 disposed on the mouth ceiling side in the oral cavity, a signal processing unit 200 and a sensing module 100 that convert and calculate signals measured through the sensing module 100. And a monitoring unit 300 that expresses the position of the tongue through sensing information through the signal processing unit 200.

The sensing module 100 has a structure that is attached to the palate in the oral cavity, and in the articulation or pronunciation treatment state, the patient's tongue contacts the sensing module 100. At this time, the sensors constituting the sensing module 100 are Leveled output characteristics are output according to the contact strength.

The signal measured through the plurality of detection sensors 110 constituting the sensing module 100 undergoes a series of signal processing processes such as noise removal through the signal processing unit 200 and a labeling step for each sensor location. The signal processed signal displays the location of the patient's tongue according to pronunciation through the monitoring unit 300.

The sensing module 100 inserted into the oral cavity must be standardized according to the individual patient's oral characteristics for sensing the tongue, and must be made of a biocompatible material as a device that is temporarily inserted into the human body.

The signal processing unit 200 requires a series of signal processing circuits or filters to remove noise generated or introduced by itself from a sensor core constituting the data transmission line or sensing module 100 connected to the sensing module 100. In order to display the data obtained through the specific arrangement between the sensors constituting the signal processing unit 200 on the monitoring unit 300, a signal processing operation is performed by a microcontroller or the like.

The monitoring unit 300 expresses the tongue position information in the oral cavity transmitted through the sensing module 100 or the signal processing unit 200 on a screen indicator. At this time, feedback is provided to the patient through preferred tongue position information or supplementary explanation related to the position of the tongue in the patient's mouth.

In particular, in addition to the monitoring unit 300, it is possible to configure the monitoring unit in conjunction with a pronunciation correction treatment teaching aid through a separate mobile phone application and a GUI program.

On the other hand, referring to Figure 3, the sensing module 100, the signal processing unit 200 and the connection to the monitoring unit 300, in addition to the wired method, by applying the wireless module 400 to the end of the sensing module 100, the autonomy of the patient Can increase.

The sensing module 100 is to arrange one or more sensor cores among a group of sensor cores including a plurality of piezoelectric elements, a piezoelectric film, an optical sensor, and a contact electrode, in a buried state.

Specifically, referring to FIG. 4, the sensing module 100 includes a plurality of detection sensors 110 arranged along a ceiling inside the oral cavity, a flexible substrate 120 on which a plurality of detection sensors 110 are disposed, and a flexible substrate ( It includes a biocompatible coating layer 130 formed to surround the 120, a fixed hook 140, etc. are coupled on both sides of the flexible substrate 120. In FIG. 4, the plurality of sensing sensors means a piezoelectric sensor.

When the user pronounces while wearing the sensing module 100, the tongue in the oral cavity has various shapes and position variations. In the above process, the tongue stimulates some of the plurality of detection sensors 110 with various compression strengths, and the stimulated plurality of detection sensors 110 transmit the sensed signals.

For example, a plurality of detection sensors 110 constituting the sensing module 100 in a state in which the main sensing unit is arranged so as to form a plurality of rows in three columns inwards based on the alveolar center of the anterior center in the oral cavity, the main On the sides of the sensing unit, the auxiliary sensing units are arranged in a stepped state in a state in which one or more rows are formed. That is, the plurality of detection sensors 110 may have a tendency to be wider as they are arranged toward the rear rather than the front depending on the shape of the oral ceiling.

The flexible substrate 120 is mounted with a sensor core mounted on a flexible printed circuit board such as a flexible printed circuit board (PCB) to minimize patient discomfort when inserted into the oral cavity.

The fixed hook 140 refers to a series of mounting devices that allow the sensing module 100 to be positioned in close contact with the upper portion of the oral cavity, and is configured on the left and right sides of the oral cavity, for example, as a dental prosthetic device. It can be easily attached to the sensing module 100 by being mounted on the upper teeth through a structure such as a fixture.

5 to 7, in the case of performing articulation treatment through pronunciation in a state in which the sensing module 100 is coupled in the oral cavity, the force for pressing the sensing module 100 using the wearer's tongue during specific pronunciation It seems to indicate the distribution of.

That is, as an example of detection of the sensing level for each contact strength of the sensing module 110, a high-intensity pressure acts on a portion spaced a predetermined distance from the anterior diameter, and a medium intensity on a rear side based on the high-intensity pressure acting portion The pressure acts, and the low-intensity pressure acts on the front of the high-strength pressure-acting site and on the rear of the medium-strength-pressure-acting site. On the other hand, on the back side of the low-intensity pressure-acting portion, there will be a non-pressurizing acting portion where no pressure through the tongue is applied.

In the present invention, leveling according to the intensity of contact of the tongue with respect to the sensing module 110 is a very important factor, and in general, the Korean articulation method can be divided into plain sound and sound sound depending on the tension. At this time, the degree of tension refers to the tension of all the articulatory organs required for articulation as well as the larynx muscles of the vocal cords, and the tongue muscles are included therein.

Pyeongum is a tone in which the tension in the articulation organs weakens as the air pressure inside the oral cavity decreases. Contrast is a concept that opposes flat tone, which increases the intraoral pressure and increases the tension of the articulation organs as the resistance at the articulation point becomes stronger.

Typically, the alveolars of the alveolar come into contact with the alveolar [c] and the consonants show a difference between [차이], and the alveolars of the alveolar come into contact with the alveolar alveolar [pal]. , The hard sound shows the difference of [ㅉ]. In addition, the flat sound of the velars, where the Husserl moves toward the soft palate, shows a difference between [ㄱ] and the consonant [ㄲ].

In order to distinguish between the flat tone and the horn having the same articulation position, measuring the tension of the tongue and leveling according to the contact strength are very important in diagnosing speech therapy or correcting the pronunciation of the patient.

A method of deriving the sensing level for each contact strength of the sensor unit in the tongue-position-graphy (TPG) system will be described with reference to FIG. 6.

First, by inducing the utterance of the patient in a state in which the sensing module 100 is combined in the oral cavity of the patient to be pronounced. During the pronunciation process, a pressure signal applied to the sensing module 100 is received through the wearer's tongue.

The signal measured through the plurality of detection sensors 110 classifies the pressure signal by going through a series of signal processing processes such as noise removal through the signal processing unit 200 and a labeling step for each sensor position. Specifically, the process of calculating the intensity by calculating the ratio of the input voltage to the total voltage level. For example, the calculation strength may be set to strong, medium, weak, or no stage. Strong, medium, weak, and no steps can be divided into 100 to 67%, 66 to 34%, 33 to 1%, and 0%, respectively.

Referring to FIG. 8, a method for calculating the shape of the tongue in a state in which a sensor, which is a sensor core, is adopted as an optical sensor is shown. 9 shows a specific method for measuring the distance between the optical sensor mounted in the oral cavity and the tongue.

Specifically, in the state based on the optical sensor, which is the sensor core, the reflected time of each collected signal is measured according to the arrangement of the optical sensor through a time of flight (TOF) operation that applies the laser Doppler effect. Allows shape to be calculated.

This is to make it easy to visually observe not only the position of the tongue but also the shape or shape of the tongue in the mouth of the mouth through the monitoring unit 300, which may help feedback between the therapist and the patient.

Referring to FIG. 9, the distance between the light emitting element and the light receiving element, which is the sensor part in the oral cavity, and the patient's tongue can be measured using Equation (1) below.

D = c * (Δt / 2) ......... Equation (1)

Here, D is the distance between the sensor and the tongue, C is the speed of light, and t is the time when the signal transmitted from the light emitting element hits the tongue and is received by the light receiving element forming a set.

Through the above equation, it is possible to know how far the patient's tongue is from the upper wall in the oral cavity by measuring the time that the signal transmitted from the light emitting element hits the tongue and is reflected and forms a set of light receiving elements. In addition, it is possible to obtain point information on the distance of the tongue in the oral cavity through the multi-array of the light emitting element and the light receiving element set.

Each measured information may form a point cloud to show the shape of the tongue on the display. On the other hand, the sensor channel may be limited by a narrow area of the upper wall of the oral cavity, but by forming a smooth line through mesh merge for each sensing point, the shape of the tongue can be easily seen by the user.

In the present invention, the sensing sensors constituting the sensing module may be independently used as piezoelectric elements or optical sensors, or may be used by summing both types of sensors.

The sensing module based on the piezoelectric element enables discrimination of the position of the tongue and the stiffness of the tongue.

On the other hand, the optical sensor-based sensing module has a function of detecting motion when the tongue does not touch the ceiling of the mouth and visualizing the shape of the tongue. Here, the visualization is actually performed by the signal processing unit and the display unit, while the optical sensor senses only the distance information.

On the other hand, it may be possible to implement the sensing module in a state in which the piezoelectric element and the optical sensor are grafted, but the resolution function in the case of only based on the piezoelectric element may be somewhat deteriorated, while the motion detection and the shape visualization of the tongue may be performed. You can enjoy the effect of improving.

As described above, the sensing sensors may exist in the piezoelectric element type or the optical sensor type, respectively, and in the case of the optical sensor or the laser Doppler type, the shape of the upper portion of the tongue may be three-dimensionally shaped.

10 shows the operation of the sensing module 100 constituting a monitoring system for pronunciation correction and speech therapy according to pronunciation examples including alveolar sound, oral dog alveolar sound, and research sound.

The image on the far left shows the process of pronouncing alveolar sound.

When the tongue and die are pronounced like the pronunciation symbols / t / and / d /, the tongue tip refers to the sound that touches the alveoli behind the front upper teeth, on the detection sensor 110 forming the first row immediately after the alveolar behind the upper upper teeth. It shows the state in which the highest strength pressure is applied, and then the second strength pressure is applied on rows 2 and 3.

The middle image shows the process of pronounced oral canine alveolar sound.

High-intensity pressure acts on the area spaced a predetermined distance from the anterior alveolar, medium-intensity pressure acts on the front-rear side based on the high-intensity pressure action site, and low-intensity pressure on the back of the medium-intensity pressure action site. Works. On the other hand, on the back side of the low-intensity pressure-acting portion, there will be a non-pressurizing acting portion where no pressure through the tongue is applied.

The image on the far right shows the process of pronouncing research sounds.

Like the / k / or / g / used in the English words key and go, it means the sound made by placing the back of the tongue on the palate or near the palate.

A high-intensity pressure acts on a site spaced a predetermined distance from the posterior tongue, and a medium-intensity pressure acts on the front-rear side based on the high-intensity pressure action site, while a tongue is placed on the front of the medium-intensity pressure-acting site from the anterior alveolar. It has a non-pressurized action site to which no pressure is applied.

On the other hand, Figure 11 shows that the shape of the tongue sensed through the sensing module 100 in the case of pronouncing the mouth opening in three dimensions.

As described above, the monitoring system for pronunciation correction and speech therapy according to the present invention improves indirect and inefficient methods such as subjective judgment or tactile perception of the therapist in the process of speech therapy or speech correction, and improves the pronunciation of the patient. It accurately monitors the position of the tongue along and enables feedback.

The above description is merely illustrative of the technical idea of the present invention, and those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains may make various modifications and variations without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are not intended to limit the technical spirit of the present invention, but to explain, and the scope of the technical spirit of the present invention is not limited by these embodiments. The scope of protection of the present invention should be interpreted by the claims below, and all technical spirits within the equivalent range should be interpreted as being included in the scope of the present invention.

100: sensing module
110: piezoelectric sensor
120: flexible substrate
130: biocompatible coating layer
140: fixed hook
200: signal processing unit
300: monitoring unit

Claims (6)

A sensing module 100 disposed on the mouth ceiling in the oral cavity;
A signal processor 200 for converting and calculating signals measured through the sensing module 100; And
Includes; monitoring unit 300 for expressing the position of the tongue through the sensing information through the sensing module 100 and the signal processing unit 200;
The sensing module 100,
A plurality of sensing sensors 110 arranged along the ceiling inside the oral cavity, a flexible substrate 120 on which the plurality of sensing sensors 110 are disposed, and a biocompatible coating layer 130 formed to surround the flexible substrate 120 And a fixing hook 140 detachably coupled to the teeth in the oral cavity while connected to both sides of the flexible substrate 120,
The plurality of detection sensors 110 detects the location of the tongue by measuring pressure or distance according to the location of the tongue in the oral cavity, and transmits the detected location to the monitoring unit 300,
The plurality of detection sensors 110 includes an optical sensor arranged along the flexible substrate 120,
The optical sensor includes a light-emitting element and a light-receiving element, and measures the distance between the optical sensor and the tongue using Equation (1) below,
Monitoring system.
D = c * (Δt / 2) ......... Equation (1)
(Where D is the distance between the sensor and the tongue, C is the speed of light, and t is the time that the signal transmitted from the light emitting element hits the tongue and is received by the light receiving element)
delete delete delete delete According to claim 1,
The plurality of detection sensors 110, in the state where the main sensing unit is arranged so as to form a plurality of rows vertically inside the oral cavity based on the diameter of the front center, the auxiliary sensing unit at least one column on both sides based on the main sensing unit Placed in the stepped state from the achieved state,
Monitoring system.

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