Apparatus for orthophonic diagnosis and reeducation

An apparatus for the detection of malformations and for orthophonic reeducation by visual control of nasal breathing and of speech sounds in a human subject. A housing has two conduits so spaced and oriented as to be adapted to be brought into juxtaposition with the nostrils of a human subject. A thermistor is disposed in each conduit. A microphone is so disposed in the housing as to face the mouth of a human subject when the conduits are juxtaposed with the nostrils of the same human subject. Signals from said thermistors and the amplitude of sounds received by the microphone are measured and separately displayed.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The invention relates to an apparatus for orthophonic diagnosis and 
reeducation by visual control of the nasal breathing and the emission of 
vocal sounds, of the type comprising a sensor of nasal breath and a buccal 
sensor, as well as, means for displaying the values measured by said 
sensors. 
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART 
There have been proposed many processes and apparatuses to measure nasal 
breathing, essentially with the aim of determining the presence of 
insufficiencies or clefts at the level of the pallet or of the nasal 
partition. 
It has thus been proposed (see the introduction of FR-A-2,537,429) to 
detect vibrations of the nasal partition and, simultaneously, the acoustic 
waves emitted from the patient's mouth, and to compare the signals thus 
emitted. This known procedure does not permit measuring with certainty the 
degree of nasality in all cases, particularly in the case of a slightly 
cleft pallet. Moreover, the detection of vibrations of the nasal partition 
is thrown off by the distance between the detector and the partition, such 
that the result is inexact. 
FR-A-2,537,429, to eliminate these defects, proposes to measure the air 
flows exhaled respectively by the nose and by the mouth. To do this, a 
combined mask for the nose and the mouth must be applied to the face with 
a sealing separation between the two organs. It will be recognized that 
such an apparatus, whose results are in any event questionable, cannot be 
used for an infant of tender age although it is in babies that the 
detection of insufficiencies must be the most often effected. Moreover, 
such a mask cannot be used for reeducation because it cannot be worn very 
long by a patient. 
Such a mask has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,752,929, the analysis 
being effected by two microphones, one for the nose and one for the mouth. 
In addition to the preceding drawbacks, the partitions separating the two 
microphones cannot let sounds pass. Such a condition is practically 
impossible. 
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,906,936, it has been proposed to measure the flow of 
nasal air by means of a thermistor mounted in a mask and more or less 
cooled by the emitted flow of air. This known measurement procedure has 
the same drawbacks as those previously indicated. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention accordingly aims to provide an apparatus of the type 
described in the introduction which permits rapid and certain detection of 
the nasal breathing during speech, at the precise moments of vocal 
emissions and outside the breathing times, without disturbing the 
observation of nasal breathing by respiratory breathing, and which permit 
prolonged use, if desired autonomously, for reeducation. 
To this end, the process of using the inventive apparatus is characterized 
by the fact that there is placed before each nostril a conduit provided 
with a thermistor, there is placed before the mouth a microphone, and the 
values read by the thermistors and by the microphone are separately 
analogically displayed. 
Because the analysis of nasal breathing is effected by a procedure 
different from that used for the analysis of buccal breathing, there is no 
interference between the values read and displayed. The instantaneous 
display in analogic form permits the operator to perform an immediate 
diagnosis by the pronunciation of certain test sounds and permits the 
patient to recognize his own defects and correct them. 
The apparatus according to the invention is characterized by the fact that 
it comprises a support or housing provided with two conduits whose outlet 
opens toward each of the respective nostrils, and a microphone placed 
before the mouth, each conduit being provided with a thermistor, the 
apparatus comprising moreover means for measuring and displaying the 
current flowing from the thermistors and means to measure and display the 
amplitude of the sounds received by the microphone. 
Preferably, the apparatus comprises means for selectively indicating values 
read by one or the other of the thermistors, so as to verify individually 
the breath emitted by each nostril. These selective elimination means may 
comprise a switch for cutting out the thermistor. 
According to one embodiment of the invention, the apparatus comprises 
moreover stereophonic and/or graphic sound recordation means for the 
measured values. 
The apparatus according to the invention, which is more a comparison device 
than a precise measuring device, permits translating into arbitrary terms 
on a screen or viewer the presence or absence of nasal breath during 
speech which is simultaneously analyzed to ensure control. The apparatus 
permits effecting these measures for both nostrils simultaneously or for 
each nostril separately. The intensity of laryngeal or whispered oral 
emission being reproduced simultaneously on a display or viewer, the 
patient and/or the user can establish a comparative study between the 
nasal breathing and the oral emission. 
The use of a common support for the nasal conduits and the microphone 
permits prolonged utilization for reeducation, this support being simply 
placed in front of the face. 
The apparatus may also comprise a second support identical to the first and 
used by the instructor.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
The apparatus comprises a support or housing 1 comprising on a smaller 
surface 2, which is slightly concave, the ends 3 of two conduits. On a 
larger surface 4, the housing 1 comprises a piezoelectric microphone 5 and 
two switches 6. The arrangement is such that, as shown in FIG. 1, the ends 
3 of the conduits may be disposed respectively below each nostril of a 
person, the microphone 5 being simultaneously in front of the mouth. 
The conduits terminating at the ends 3 each contain a resistant wire or 
thermistor fed with direct current and a measurement circuit of the 
voltage at the terminals of the wire. This voltage varies with the 
temperature of the wire, which is modified by the air flow leaving the 
adjacent nostril. The measured voltage is therefore a function of nasal 
breathing. 
The housing 1 is connected to a console 7 of the apparatus (FIG. 3) by a 
cable 8. The cable 8 contains the feed wires of the thermistors and of the 
microphone 5, from an electrical source or a transformer or rectifier 
contained in the console 7. The measurement circuit and the microphone 5 
are connected to an electronic apparatus also contained in the console 7 
and which controls a meter 9 with analogic display of the nasal breathing 
measured by the thermistors and a meter 10 with analogic display of the 
amplitude of speech, after rectification. The buttons 11 and 12 permit 
regulating respectively the sensitivity of the meters 9 and 10. The 
switches 6 serve respectively to cut out one or the other of the 
thermistors. 
The console 7 may comprise an input for a second housing 1, an output for 
stereophonic sound recordation, and an output for a graphic recordation. 
The apparatus comprises also a sound signal emitter which is triggered in 
precise synchronization with the movement of the nasal meter needle to 
signal to the person to be reeducated the presence of nasal emission 
during reading out loud. 
The apparatus which has been described permits detecting certain anomalies 
such as open or closed rhinolalies, velar insufficiencies, nasality, nasal 
obstructions, or uncontrolled emissions during deafness. It also permits 
educating or reeducating these same phonetic difficulties. 
There can be provided in the course of reeducation, audition means disposed 
within a helmet or the like, of the emission spoken by the tested subject 
and sensed by the microphone, when this emission is stripped of all 
nasality. 
It is also possible to include a recordation of the laryngeal vibrations by 
means of a sensor disposed on the thyroid cartilage and to display it on a 
calibrated intensity scale, so as to display the detection of the 
malformations.