SpeechVive expands availability of device to help people with Parkinson's disease communicate better

October 15, 2014  


Jessica Huber SpeechVive

Jessica Huber, professor in Purdue's Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, speaks with George Patrick about the SpeechVive device. The device helps people with Parkinson’s disease communicate more effectively. Patrick has been using the device since 2011, and it is now available on the market through health care providers and for demonstration at many of the National Parkinson's Centers of Excellence across the United States (Photo by Purdue Research Foundation)
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. and LAFAYETTE, Ind. — SpeechVive Inc., a company commercializing a Purdue University innovation that helps people with Parkinson's disease to speak more loudly and communicate more effectively, has expanded the availability of its product, which is currently available in nearly 15 locations across the United States.

Four years of clinical data show that the device, called SpeechVive, is effective in helping 90 percent of users to communicate more effectively.

More than 1.5 million people in the United States are diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, and it is one of the most common degenerative neurological diseases. People with Parkinson's disease are commonly affected in their ability to communicate effectively because it can cause people to speak in a "soft voice," or speak in a hushed, whispery voice and to have mumbled speech. The SpeechVive device has been shown to reduce those speech impairments.

"The ability to communicate effectively is one of the most important ways to getting the appropriate health care a person needs and is equally important in their quality of life," said Steve Mogensen, SpeechVive president and CEO. "We launched the product in several health care centers in early September, and the response has been tremendous. We have already doubled the medical facilities that offer this device to patients."

The locations where patients can receive a speech assessment with the SpeechVive  device can be demonstrated or purchased includes several National Parkinson's Centers of Excellence that offer it in conjunction with, or as an alternative to, speech therapy. Several Veterans Administration Medical Centers across the country, including the VAMC in Cincinnati, have made the device available for patients.

The device is now available at the following facilities: the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix; the University of Florida, Gainesville; University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Struthers Parkinson’s Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Baylor College of Medicine, Waco, Texas; Duke University, Durham, North Carolina; Voice Institute, Austin, Texas; Beth Israel Medical Center, New York City; Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee; and the M.D. Steer Speech and Hearing Clinic at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

For a complete list of facilities and phone numbers to make appointments, visit the SpeechVive website at www.speechvive.com.

"The request for the device is growing steadily, and we are adding new locations nearly every week to meet this demand," Mogensen said.

Jessica Huber, a professor in Purdue's Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, and her team have worked for more than a decade to develop the device and move it to the public.

"The most important goal of my research is to help people communicate better – one of the best ways to do this is helping them speak louder and clearer," Huber said. "The SpeechVive device is a direct result of my work with more than 100 of people who have degenerative motor diseases like Parkinson's. It is the highlight of my day to see the improved quality of life in people I work with because they are able to effectively communicate with others."

The device has been licensed exclusively to SpeechVive through the Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization. More than 20 startups based on Purdue intellectual property were launched in the 2014 fiscal year. A video about SpeechVive and the SpeechVive device is available at http://youtu.be/ybNZkCk_ex8.

For more information, call 800-392-3309 or visit the SpeechVive website at www.speechvive.com.

About SpeechVive

SpeechVive is a Lafayette, Indiana-based corporation formed in 2011. The company is dedicated to improving the quality of life for individuals with speech problems due to Parkinson's and other diseases by enabling people to speak more loudly and communicate more effectively with their loved ones. www.speechvive.com

About Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization

The Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization operates one of the most comprehensive technology-transfer programs among leading research universities in the U.S. Services provided by this office support the economic development initiatives of Purdue University and benefit the university's academic activities. The office is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, which received the 2014 Incubator Network of the Year from the National Business Incubation Association for its work in entrepreneurship. For more information about funding and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at foundry@prf.org

Writer: Cynthia Sequin, 765-588-3340; casequin@prf.org  

Sources: Steve Mogensen, 612-723-7200, smogensen@speechvive.com 

Jessica Huber, 765-494-3796, jhuber@purdue.edu

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