Speech is the primary means of communication among humans, and results from complex interaction among vocal folds vibration at the larynx and voluntary articulators movements (i.e. mouth tongue, jaw, etc.). However, only recently has research focussed on biomedical applications. Since 1999, the MAVEBA Workshop is organised every two years, aiming to stimulate contacs between specialists active in clinical, research and industrial developments in the area of voice signal and images analysis for biomedical applications. This eight Workshop will offer the partecipants an interdisciplinary platform for presenting and discussing new knowledge in the field of models, analysis and classification of voice signals and images, as far as both adults, singing and children voices are concerned. Modelling the normal and pathological voice source, analysis of healthy and pathological voices are among the main fields of research. The aim is that of extracting the main voice characteristics, together with their deviation from “healthy conditions”, ranging from fundamental research to all kinds of biomedical applications and related estabilished and advanced technologies.

Special Issues of: Medical Engineering & Physics (2002), Biomedical Signal Processing and Control (2006, 2008, 2011), Acta Acustica – Acustica (2006) collect relevant papers presented at past MAVEBA Workshops. Special issues/sections are foreseen also for MAVEBA 2013.

Some of the relevant topics are:

• modelling of the normal and pathological voice source
• diagnosis and classification of pathological voice
• voice quality during rehabilitation
• development of vocal prostheses and aids for disabled
• non-speech vocal emissions(such as infant cry, cough and snoring), as far as developmental aspects are considered, as well as pathological ones such as obstructive apnoea and asthma.
• protocols and reliable objective parameters
• objective parameters extraction from vocal folds images through videolaryngoscopy, videokymography, fMRI and other emerging techniques
• multi-modal analysis
• relationship between speech and neurological dysfunction (e.g. epilepsy, autism, schizophrenia, stress etc.) interaction with hearing impairment.

We are moving rapidly towards a time where many common speech disorders and dysfunctions will be remediable by computer-based or physical prosthetics and, since speech communication is so fundamental to human interaction, the beneficial effects to users of these devices are likely to be immeasurable.