At a glance
ClinicalIndex Comparison RecordStandardized by ClinicalIndex from the ClinicalTrials.gov record · verify against the source.
DESIPHER Speech Degradation as an Indicator of Physiological Degeneration in ALS
In Brief
An observational study for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Completed, enrolled 34 participants across 1 site.
Detailed Summary
A disease called Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (or ALS), which leads to difficulty swallowing, breathing, and movement, has been found to be higher for those serving in the military than in the general population. There are approximately 4,200 Veterans with ALS and roughly 1,000 new cases each year. When doctors attempt to determine the degree to which an ALS patient is suffering from the disease, they apply tests that are "graded" by experts. However, this approach to testing patients may not be very accurate. Researchers aim to use a system called DESIPHER to "listen" to ALS patients and find speech mistakes related to their condition. Researchers believe that, by detecting different types of errors, DESIPHER serves as a new kind of indicator of medical problems such as difficulty breathing or swallowing, without human "grading". This may also lead to a better system for automatically understanding ALS patients' speech.