Call for Papers

Applied Sciences (IF: 2.474)

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci/

Special Issue on Applications of Speech and Language Technologies in
Healthcare

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci/special_issues/speech_language_technologies_healthcare

Speech and language technologies (SLTs) have experienced a major boom
in recent years and commercial speech-enabled systems are becoming
ubiquitous. Unfortunately, people with speech and language impairments
often face barriers to using these technologies leading to an
increasing gap between SLTs available to the general public and those
accessible to people with speech impairments. Other applications of
SLTs include assistive communication devices for people with speech
impairments, speech-based diagnosis of certain voice and respiratory
pathologies (e.g., dysphonia, vocal fold nodules, COVID-19, etc.) and,
even, certain neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer's or
Parkinson's disease. In addition, new communication interfaces with
great potential are emerging, such as silent speech interfaces.

In this Special Issue, we attempt to collect relevant contributions in
the development of SLTs focused on improving the integration of people
with speech impairments in society, as well as for the detection and
monitoring of pathologies or diseases. We also intend to attract
studies on the development of applications for voice professionals in
the clinical field.

We cordially invite you to participate in this special issue by
submitting your recent work on the field. Relevant research topics
include, but are not limited to:
- Speech and language technologies for augmentative and alternative communication (AAC);
- Silent speech interfaces;
- Voice conversion (VC) and text-to-speech (TTS) assistive communication systems;
- Automatic speech recognition for people with speech impairments;
- Diagnosis and monitoring of voice disorders and other respiratory diseases;
- Speech-based diagnosis and assessment of neurological disorders;
- Personalization of speech tools for people with speech impairments;
- Voice banking initiatives;
- Tools and software for speech therapists and clinicians.


Submission instructions
------------------------------------------
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering
and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to
go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the
deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be
published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will
be listed together on the special issue website.


Important dates
------------------------------
Submission opens: January 1, 2021
Submission deadline: July 31, 2021


Guest editors
-----------------------------
Inma Hernáez Rioja (inma.hernaez@ehu.eus), University of the Basque Country, Spain
Jose A. Gonzalez-Lopez (joseangl@ugr.es), University of Granada, Spain
Heidi Christensen (heidi.christensen@sheffield.ac.uk), University of Sheffield, U.K.