Voiceitt for People With Impairments in Speech

July 2, 2026 updated by: Brad Dicianno, University of Pittsburgh
The primary objective of this pilot study is to evaluate the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of the Voiceitt app in improving communication for individuals with speech impairments due to conditions such as cerebral palsy (CP), stroke, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), or Parkinson's disease.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Conditions like CP, ALS, Stroke or Parkinson's disease, etc., cause communication impairment. There are few augmentative communication options that allow people with these impairments to communicate effectively.

Voiceitt is an app that is designed to assist people with speech impairments by using a voice recognition and dictation tool that adapts to users' unique, non-standard speech patterns. However, its effectiveness in clinical populations has not been established. This study is bridging the gap in evaluating the preliminary effectiveness and feasibility of Voiceitt app in improving communication among people with mild to moderate speech impairments.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

20

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Pennsylvania
      • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, 15213
        • Recruiting
        • Center for Assistive Technology
        • Contact:
        • Contact:
          • Katya Hill, PhD, CCC-SLP
          • Phone Number: 412-383-6659
          • Email: khill@pitt.edu
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Brad E Dicianno, MD
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Katya Hill, PhD,CCC-SLP

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age 13 or older
  • moderately severe speech dysarthria due to conditions such as CP, stroke, ALS or Parkinson's Disease, etc.
  • Ability to understand and follow instructions for using the Voiceitt app.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Severe cognitive impairments that prevent the understanding of the Voiceitt app and required training.
  • Patients who have additional speech impairments other than dysarthria, such as significant aphasia or verbal apraxia.
  • Severe physical impairments that prevent interaction with the app.
  • Non-English speakers.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Voiceitt
Participants will use Voiceitt App. Voiceitt is a voice recognition and dictation tool that adapts to users' unique, non-standard speech patterns. It integrates with mainstream devices and platforms to enable communication, accessibility, and independence for people with speech disabilities. https://www.voiceitt.com/
Other: Voiceitt
Participants will use Voiceitt App

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Communication Abilities as measured by SIR
Time Frame: Baseline (Day 1), 5-6 months, and 7-8 months
Change in Communication Abilities as measured by Speech Intelligibility Rating (SIR) that quantifies clarity of speech. The rating ranges from 1-5. low rating means speech is unintelligible, and highest rating means speech is intelligible to all listeners. Change in SIR is measured by administering SIR at 3 different time points, at baseline, and two times after intervention.
Baseline (Day 1), 5-6 months, and 7-8 months
Change in Communication Abilities as measured by Communication Effectiveness Index (CETI)
Time Frame: Baseline (day 1), 5-6 months, and 7-8 months
Change in Communication Abilities as measured by Communication Effectiveness Index (CETI) that measures perceived effectiveness of communication in daily activities. CETI is a 16 item questionnaire. Each item is scored from 1-100. The final score of CETI is the averaged score across the 16 items, and ranges from 1-100. A high score indicates good performance in functional communication and a low score, poor performance. Change in CETI is measured by administering CETI at 3 different time points, at baseline, and two times after intervention.
Baseline (day 1), 5-6 months, and 7-8 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
User Satisfaction
Time Frame: 7-8 months
User satisfaction is assessed through surveys and interviews focusing on ease of use, satisfaction with the app, and perceived changes. The survey uses Likert-type scale where users choose the answer option that represent their assessment of the app on several usability questions. An example of the question-and-answer choices is "How easy was it to set up the Voiceitt app? Very easy, Easy, Neutral, Difficult, Very difficult." Reported data will be a combination of frequency of participants choosing favorable and unfavorable answer choices, and a qualitative analysis based on participants' responses to the survey and interview.
7-8 months
Change in Communication-Related Frustration
Time Frame: 7-8 months
Self-reported change in frustration levels during communication.
7-8 months
Change in Participants' Accounts on Social Interaction Quality
Time Frame: 7-8 months
Through qualitative interviews, participants will be asked about how the app influenced their social interactions and participation in daily activities. This information will be reported qualitatively as themes using qualitative analysis.
7-8 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Pittsburgh

Collaborators

Duquesne University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Brad E Dicianno, MD, University of Pittsburgh

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

June 25, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

December 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 21, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 7, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

March 13, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 6, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 2, 2026

Last Verified

August 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • STUDY24100164

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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