Matti Groll, B.S.

Dept. of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences

Boston University

Email: mgroll@bu.edu

Research Interests and Current Work

Alternative and Augmentative Communication; Electromyography; Human-Machine Interfaces; Signal Processing; Quantitative Acoustic Measurements; Laryngeal Tension

I am currently working on the development of human-machine interfaces (HMI) for individuals with neurological disorders that limit their communication abilities. One study investigates the use of electromyography and accelerometry to control a mouse cursor with simple head/facial movements in healthy individuals. The application of this device will be to control an alternative and augmentative communication device, such as a text-to-speech interface. Future research will explore device usage by a patient population with a focus on improving the clinical and daily-use feasibility of these devices.

My other research focuses on the collection and validation of quantitative acoustic measures of vocal function. These measures are important for improving clinical evaluation and monitoring of voice disorders such as muscle tension dysphonia. One study assesses quantitative measures as a way to investigate the effects of laryngeal massage. Another study uses voice onset timing to analyze the effects of increased laryngeal tension. I am also interested in how quantitative acoustic measures can be applied to the growing field of transgender voice and how different acoustic features affect the perception of gender.

Education

Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering| Boston University, 2017 – Present

B.S., Biomedical Engineering| Boston University, 2013 – 2017

Publications

Groll, M. D., Vojtech, J. M., Hablani, S., Mehta, D. D., Buckley, D. P., Noordzij, J. P., & Stepp, C. E. (In Press). Automated relative fundamental frequency algorithms for use with neck-surface accelerometer signals. Journal of Voice.

Groll, M. D., Hablani, S., Vojtech, J. M., & Stepp, C. E. (2020). Cursor click modality in an accelerometer-based computer access device. IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, 28(7), 1566-1572.

Groll, M. D., McKenna, V.S., Hablani, S., & Stepp, C.E. (2020). Formant-estimated vocal tract length and extrinsic laryngeal muscle activation during modulation of vocal effort in healthy speakers. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 63(5), 1395-1403.

Mi, J., Groll, M., & Colburn, H. S. (2017). Comparison of a target-equalization-cancellation approach and a localization approach to source separation. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 142(5), 2933-2941.

Conference Presentations

Groll, M., Buckley, D., Dahl, K., & Stepp, C. (2019, June 2-4). The effects of laryngeal massage and nebulized saline on high-voice users. In the 13th International Conference on Advances in Quantitative Laryngology, Voice and Speech Research, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Groll, M., Ferriero, J., Kenny, E., Weden, B., Sharon, A., & Lewis, C. (2017, April 30). PID control of treadmill speed using human kinematics. In Kilachand Honors College Keystone Symposium, Boston, MA.

Research Awards and Honors

NIH/NIDCD T32 Training Grant, “Advanced research training in communication sciences and disorders”, 2019

Boston University Distinguished Biomedical Engineering Graduate Fellowship, 2017