Techniques for field application of lingual ultrasound imaging

Abstract

Techniques are discussed for using ultrasound for lingual imaging in field‐related applications. The greatest challenges we have faced distinguishing the field setting from the laboratory setting are the lack of controlled head/transducer movement, and the related issue of tissue compression. Two experiments are reported. First, a pilot study identifies important factors in controlling head/transducer movement in field settings. Second, an Optotrak/ultrasound study reports the range of head movement in an optimal field‐like setting within and across varying phonetic contexts, as well as the effect of tongue tissue compression on tongue image data. Results suggest that with a simple arrangement involving a head rest or surface, a fixed transducer, and careful design and presentation of stimuli, reliable lingual ultrasound data can be collected in the field.

• Ultrasound
• fieldwork
• linguistic phonetics
• intervention
• validation

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to recognize the contributions of the many users who have tested and contributed to the systems described in this paper, who can not all be mentioned here. Particular thanks for help with this paper are due to: Fiona Campbell, Jason Chang, Oliver Guenther, Jeremy Perkins, Bosko Radanov, Shaffiq Rahemtulla, and Eric Vatikiotis‐Bateson. This work was funded by a Discovery grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and a New Opportunities grant from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, both to the first author, and by National Institutes of Health Grant DC‐02717 to Haskins Laboratories.