Fractional delay estimation for blind source separation and localization of temporomandibular joint sounds

Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) sound sources are generated from the two joints connecting the lower jaw to the temporal bone. Such sounds are important diagnostic signs in patients suffering from temporomandibular disorder (TMD). In this study, we address the problem of source separation of the TMJ sounds. In particular, we examine patients with only one TMJ generating “clicks.” Thereafter, we consider the TMJ sounds recorded from the two auditory canals as mixtures of clicks from the TMD joint and the noise produced by the other healthy/normal TMJ.We next exploit the statistical nonstationary nature of the TMJ signals by employing the degenerate unmixing estimation technique (DUET) algorithm, a time–frequency (T–F) approach to separate the sources. As the DUET algorithm requires the sensors to be closely spaced, which is not satisfied by our recording setup, we have to estimate the delay between the recorded TMJ sounds to perform an alignment of the mixtures. Thus, the proposed extension of DUET enables an essentially arbitrary separation of the sensors. It is also shown that DUET outperforms the convolutive Infomax algorithm in this particular TMJ source separation scenario. The spectra of both separated TMJ sources with our method are comparable to those available in existing literature. Examination of both spectra suggests that the click source has a better audible prominence than the healthy TMJ source. Furthermore, we address the problem of source localization. This can be achieved automatically by detecting the sign of our proposed mutual information estimator which exhibits a maximum at the delay between the two mixtures. As a result, the localized separated TMJ sources can be of great clinical value to dental specialists

A filtering approach to underdetermined blind source separation with application to temporomandibular disorders

This paper addresses the underdetermined blind source separation problem, using a filtering approach. We have developed an extension of the FastICA algorithm which exploits the disparity in the kurtoses of the underlying sources to estimate the mixing matrix and thereafter the recovery of the sources is achieved by employing the l1-norm algorithm. Also, we demonstrate how promising FastICA can be to extract the sources, without utilizing the l1-norm algorithm. Furthermore, we illustrate how this scenario is particularly suitable to the separation of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) sounds, crucial in the diagnosis of temporomandibular disorders (TMDs

A geometrically constrained multimodal approach for convolutive blind source separation

A novel constrained multimodal approach for convolutive blind source separation is presented which incorporates video information related to geometrical position of both the speakers and the microphones, and the directionality of the speakers into the separation algorithm. The separation is performed in the frequency domain and the constraints are incorporated through a penalty function-based formulation. The separation results show a considerable improvement over traditional frequency domain convolutive BSS systems such as that developed by Parra and Spence. Importantly, the inherent permutation problem in the frequency domain BSS is potentially solve

Blind source separation via independent and sparse component analysis with application to temporomandibular disorder

Blind source separation (BSS) addresses the problem of separating multi channel signals observed by generally spatially separated sensors into their constituent underlying sources. The passage of these sources through an unknown mixing medium results in these observed multichannel signals. This study focuses on BSS, with special emphasis on its application to the temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD). TMD refers to all medical problems related to the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), which holds the lower jaw (mandible) and the temporal bone (skull). The overall objective of the work is to extract the two TMJ sound sources generated by the two TMJs, from the bilateral recordings obtained from the auditory canals, so as to aid the clinician in diagnosis and planning treatment policies. Firstly, the concept of 'variable tap length' is adopted in convolutive blind source separation. This relatively new concept has attracted attention in the field of adaptive signal processing, notably the least mean square (LMS) algorithm, but has not yet been introduced in the context of blind signal separation. The flexibility of the tap length of the proposed approach allows for the optimum tap length to be found, thereby mitigating computational complexity or catering for fractional delays arising in source separation. Secondly, a novel fixed point BSS algorithm based on Ferrante's affine transformation is proposed. Ferrante's affine transformation provides the freedom to select the eigenvalues of the Jacobian matrix of the fixed point function and thereby improves the convergence properties of the fixed point iteration. Simulation studies demonstrate the improved convergence of the proposed approach compared to the well-known fixed point FastICA algorithm. Thirdly, the underdetermined blind source separation problem using a filtering approach is addressed. An extension of the FastICA algorithm is devised which exploits the disparity in the kurtoses of the underlying sources to estimate the mixing matrix and thereafter achieves source recovery by employing the i-norm algorithm. Additionally, it will be shown that FastICA can also be utilised to extract the sources. Furthermore, it is illustrated how this scenario is particularly suitable for the separation of TMJ sounds. Finally, estimation of fractional delays between the mixtures of the TMJ sources is proposed as a means for TMJ separation. The estimation of fractional delays is shown to simplify the source separation to a case of in stantaneous BSS. Then, the estimated delay allows for an alignment of the TMJ mixtures, thereby overcoming a spacing constraint imposed by a well- known BSS technique, notably the DUET algorithm. The delay found from the TMJ bilateral recordings corroborates with the range reported in the literature. Furthermore, TMJ source localisation is also addressed as an aid to the dental specialist.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Blind source separation via independent and sparse component analysis with application to temporomandibular disorder

Blind source separation (BSS) addresses the problem of separating multi channel signals observed by generally spatially separated sensors into their constituent underlying sources. The passage of these sources through an unknown mixing medium results in these observed multichannel signals. This study focuses on BSS, with special emphasis on its application to the temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD). TMD refers to all medical problems related to the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), which holds the lower jaw (mandible) and the temporal bone (skull). The overall objective of the work is to extract the two TMJ sound sources generated by the two TMJs, from the bilateral recordings obtained from the auditory canals, so as to aid the clinician in diagnosis and planning treatment policies. Firstly, the concept of 'variable tap length' is adopted in convolutive blind source separation. This relatively new concept has attracted attention in the field of adaptive signal processing, notably the least mean square (LMS) algorithm, but has not yet been introduced in the context of blind signal separation. The flexibility of the tap length of the proposed approach allows for the optimum tap length to be found, thereby mitigating computational complexity or catering for fractional delays arising in source separation. Secondly, a novel fixed point BSS algorithm based on Ferrante's affine transformation is proposed. Ferrante's affine transformation provides the freedom to select the eigenvalues of the Jacobian matrix of the fixed point function and thereby improves the convergence properties of the fixed point iteration. Simulation studies demonstrate the improved convergence of the proposed approach compared to the well-known fixed point FastICA algorithm. Thirdly, the underdetermined blind source separation problem using a filtering approach is addressed. An extension of the FastICA algorithm is devised which exploits the disparity in the kurtoses of the underlying sources to estimate the mixing matrix and thereafter achieves source recovery by employing the i-norm algorithm. Additionally, it will be shown that FastICA can also be utilised to extract the sources. Furthermore, it is illustrated how this scenario is particularly suitable for the separation of TMJ sounds. Finally, estimation of fractional delays between the mixtures of the TMJ sources is proposed as a means for TMJ separation. The estimation of fractional delays is shown to simplify the source separation to a case of in stantaneous BSS. Then, the estimated delay allows for an alignment of the TMJ mixtures, thereby overcoming a spacing constraint imposed by a well- known BSS technique, notably the DUET algorithm. The delay found from the TMJ bilateral recordings corroborates with the range reported in the literature. Furthermore, TMJ source localisation is also addressed as an aid to the dental specialist.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Blind source separation via independent and sparse component analysis with application to temporomandibular disorder

Blind source separation (BSS) addresses the problem of separating multi channel signals observed by generally spatially separated sensors into their constituent underlying sources. The passage of these sources through an unknown mixing medium results in these observed multichannel signals. This study focuses on BSS, with special emphasis on its application to the temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD). TMD refers to all medical problems related to the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), which holds the lower jaw (mandible) and the temporal bone (skull). The overall objective of the work is to extract the two TMJ sound sources generated by the two TMJs, from the bilateral recordings obtained from the auditory canals, so as to aid the clinician in diagnosis and planning treatment policies. Firstly, the concept of 'variable tap length' is adopted in convolutive blind source separation. This relatively new concept has attracted attention in the field of adaptive signal processing, notably the least mean square (LMS) algorithm, but has not yet been introduced in the context of blind signal separation. The flexibility of the tap length of the proposed approach allows for the optimum tap length to be found, thereby mitigating computational complexity or catering for fractional delays arising in source separation. Secondly, a novel fixed point BSS algorithm based on Ferrante's affine transformation is proposed. Ferrante's affine transformation provides the freedom to select the eigenvalues of the Jacobian matrix of the fixed point function and thereby improves the convergence properties of the fixed point iteration. Simulation studies demonstrate the improved convergence of the proposed approach compared to the well-known fixed point FastICA algorithm. Thirdly, the underdetermined blind source separation problem using a filtering approach is addressed. An extension of the FastICA algorithm is devised which exploits the disparity in the kurtoses of the underlying sources to estimate the mixing matrix and thereafter achieves source recovery by employing the i-norm algorithm. Additionally, it will be shown that FastICA can also be utilised to extract the sources. Furthermore, it is illustrated how this scenario is particularly suitable for the separation of TMJ sounds. Finally, estimation of fractional delays between the mixtures of the TMJ sources is proposed as a means for TMJ separation. The estimation of fractional delays is shown to simplify the source separation to a case of in stantaneous BSS. Then, the estimated delay allows for an alignment of the TMJ mixtures, thereby overcoming a spacing constraint imposed by a well- known BSS technique, notably the DUET algorithm. The delay found from the TMJ bilateral recordings corroborates with the range reported in the literature. Furthermore, TMJ source localisation is also addressed as an aid to the dental specialist

Multimodal methods for blind source separation of audio sources

The enhancement of the performance of frequency domain convolutive blind source separation (FDCBSS) techniques when applied to the problem of separating audio sources recorded in a room environment is the focus of this thesis. This challenging application is termed the cocktail party problem and the ultimate aim would be to build a machine which matches the ability of a human being to solve this task. Human beings exploit both their eyes and their ears in solving this task and hence they adopt a multimodal approach, i.e. they exploit both audio and video modalities. New multimodal methods for blind source separation of audio sources are therefore proposed in this work as a step towards realizing such a machine. The geometry of the room environment is initially exploited to improve the separation performance of a FDCBSS algorithm. The positions of the human speakers are monitored by video cameras and this information is incorporated within the FDCBSS algorithm in the form of constraints added to the underlying cross-power spectral density matrix-based cost function which measures separation performance. [Continues.