Mary Paterson

Research Topic: AI analysis of voice to aid laryngeal cancer diagnosis

Supervisors: Dr Luisa Cutillo, Dr James Moor

About Mary: I graduated from the University of Birmingham with an integrated masters in electronic and Electrical Engineering.

Project description: Patients with head and neck cancer present to secondary care services in a number of ways. Laryngeal carcinoma, (cancer affecting the voice box) tends to cause hoarseness when it affects the vocal cords. There is an urgent clinical need to develop tools to aid in the diagnostic process for patients referred on the NHS ’2 week wait’ pathway. The research will focus on assessment of a patient’s voice to aid clinical decision making as to whether the larynx is a site of potential cancer development, or, whether it is affected by a wide range of non-cancer diagnoses.