Jim Jones and Kirk Foster on Purdue "Difference Makers" Team
The SpeechVive device designed and built by Jones and Foster.
Technology that Jim Jones and Kirk Foster, both from the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, developed with Jessica Huber, associate professor of speech, language and hearing sciences, is featured on Purdue's "Difference Makers" webpage.
Nearly 90 percent of the 1.5 million patients who live with Parkinson's disease, a neurological disorder, live with “soft voice.” Known as hypophonia, the words they produce are hushed, whispery or even hoarse.
Huber has invented SpeechViveTM, a device that cues patients to speak louder and more clearly.
The device, which rests in the patient's ear, provides a stream of noise similar to the background chatter at a party, cueing the patient to naturally talk louder.
Jones, engineering resources manager, and Foster, senior research engineer, designed the electronics and built the SpeechViveTM devices.