Gender-affirming Voice Training With Visual Feedback

NCT ID: NCT07017595

Last Updated: 2025-07-24

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

TERMINATED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

6 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2025-06-05

Study Completion Date

2025-07-18

Brief Summary

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The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if prototype software can be used to train vocal pitch and resonance in trans women. The main questions it aims to answer are:

* How regularly would trans women use the prototype voice training software as "homework" between human-led voice training sessions?
* In such a setting, how usable and motivating would the training software be?

Participants will first have their voice measured, then take part in four virtual sessions (one per week) led by a speech-language pathologist. In each session, the clinician will guide the participant through several voice exercises both with and without the software. Participants will be asked to use the software to exercise on their own for about 2x 15 minutes a day between virtual sessions.

Detailed Description

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In an initial virtual assessment session (conducted via a password-protected Zoom room), a researcher will explain the protocol, obtain informed consent, collect participant demographics and other self-report data, and obtain baseline recordings of the participant's voice while speaking different utterances.

After the initial assessment session, each participant will take part in four virtual training sessions (on day 1, after approximately 1 week, after approximately 2 weeks, after approximately 3 weeks) provided on an individual basis by a certified speech-language pathologist (SLP).

In the first session (1 hour), the SLP will assess each participant's baseline ability to modify their pitch and resonance and will introduce the voice training software. They will provide strategies that participants may use to manipulate their pitch or resonance (e.g., for resonance, changing the positioning of the tongue in their mouth or changing the shape of the lips). For the remainder of the session, the SLP will guide the participant through exercises deemed appropriate to the participant's ability, both with and without the software. At the end of the session, the SLP will prescribe pitch and/or resonance exercises to be performed at home with the voice training software, with a suggested duration of 2x 15 minutes each day. Additional one-hour virtual training sessions with the SLP will be held at the end of weeks 1, 2, and 3.

Between sessions, participants will be asked to exercise on their own and report the duration and type of practice using a self-report log, though there will be no mechanism to enforce the unsupervised exercise.

After the last training session, participants will take part in a final assessment session where the same recordings as in the initial assessment session will be obtained again and additional self-report data will be collected.

Conditions

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Transgender Women Voice Alteration

Study Design

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Allocation Method

NA

Intervention Model

SINGLE_GROUP

There will be only one group. Each participant will take part in the same protocol (4 virtual training sessions + "homework" between sessions).
Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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Experiment group

This group will be given access to our prototype software for pitch and resonance training. They will go through 4 virtual sessions of expert-guided voice training, with the software used as part of the sessions, and will use the software on their own between sessions.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Visual-acoustic biofeedback: experimental

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Visual-acoustic biofeedback treatment incorporates elements of traditional voice training, including auditory models, verbal descriptions of articulator placement, and cues for repetitive motor practice using images and diagrams of the vocal tract as visual aids. Our experimental software will provide several options for visualizing the fundamental frequency of the voice (for targets involving vocal pitch) and for visualizing vocal tract resonances. Custom targets for pitch and resonance will be created for each participant based on their baseline voice characteristics and personal voice goals. They will be encouraged to attend to the visual display while adjusting the placement of their articulators and observing how those adjustments influence the proximity of their output to the target.

Interventions

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Visual-acoustic biofeedback: experimental

Visual-acoustic biofeedback treatment incorporates elements of traditional voice training, including auditory models, verbal descriptions of articulator placement, and cues for repetitive motor practice using images and diagrams of the vocal tract as visual aids. Our experimental software will provide several options for visualizing the fundamental frequency of the voice (for targets involving vocal pitch) and for visualizing vocal tract resonances. Custom targets for pitch and resonance will be created for each participant based on their baseline voice characteristics and personal voice goals. They will be encouraged to attend to the visual display while adjusting the placement of their articulators and observing how those adjustments influence the proximity of their output to the target.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* At least 18 years old.
* Native speaker of American English - must have been exposed to it by the age of 6.
* Assigned male at birth, currently identifies as transgender.
* Currently interested in gender-affirming voice training.
* Has access to a computer and quiet room for performing voice training.
* Able to pass a pure-tone hearing screening at 20dB HL.

Exclusion Criteria

* Current or previous diagnosed speech, language or hearing problems (besides voice-gender dysphoria).
* Neurological disorder or disease (e.g., Parkinson's, tremor) or impacted nerve function to the larynx (e.g., paralysis/paresis of the vocal fold).
* Respiratory disease (e.g., asthma).
* Nasopharyngeal pathology or anatomical abnormality.
* Previous voice feminization surgery.
* Engaged in other gender-affirming voice training during period of study participation.
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

MALE

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)

NIH

Sponsor Role collaborator

New York University

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

University of Central Florida

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

University of Cincinnati

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Vesna D Novak, PhD

Associate Professor

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

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University of Cincinnati

Cincinnati, Ohio, United States

Site Status

Countries

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United States

Other Identifiers

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R21DC021537

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

View Link

2023-0831

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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