Design of Intonation Control on Electrolarynx Using Electromyograph (EMG)

Advanced stage laryngeal cancer patients have to undergo larynx removal surgery. Laryngeal retraction is done by laryngeal surgery. After the surgery, the laryngeal patients will lose the vocal cords and thus lose the ability to produce permanent sound. For post-laryngectomy patients, sound rehabilitation is necessary to able to conduct communication in other ways. There are 3 (three) ways of sound rehabilitation, namely esophageal speech, tracheoesophageal and electrolarynx. Sound has two kinds of intonation, namely high and low intonation that are used to emphasize certain words within sentences. Intonation also consists of three types of intonation, namely: dynamic pressure (low strong), tone pressure (high), and tempo pressure. The result will be used as the parameter to determine the start and the end of the sound. Electrolarynx is one of the tools used by the patient to talk in post-laryngectomy. In the previous research, electrolarynx prototype development is still needed to be improved, so that the optimal results to help human to be able to speak could be achieved. This research will describe the design of intonation control in electrolarynx using electromyograph sensor to raise human voice intonation in larynx (no larynx) and mute (deaf or speech impaired) in order not to sound monotone.