Impact of human vocal fold vibratory asymmetries on acoustic characteristics of sustained vowel phonation

Clinical voice specialists make critical diagnostic, medical, therapeutic, and surgical decisions by coupling visual observations of vocal fold tissue motion with auditory-perceptual assessments of voice quality. The details of the relationship between vocal fold tissue motion and the voice produced are not fully understood, and there is recent evidence that the diagnostic significance of asymmetries during vocal fold vibration may be over-interpreted during clinical voice assessment. An automated system based on high-speed videoendoscopy recordings was developed to objectively quantify vocal fold vibratory asymmetry with initial validation from manual markings and visualperceptual judgments. Efficient estimation of these measures was possible due to recent technological advances in high-speed imaging of the larynx that enabled the capture and processing of high-resolution video (up to 10,000 images per second) of rapid vocal fold vibrations (100-1000 times per second). Synchronized recordings of the acoustic voice signal were made to explore physiological-acoustic relationships that were not possible using clinical stroboscopic imaging systems. In an initial study of asymmetric vibration in 14 patients treated for laryngeal cancer, perturbations in the voice signal were most associated with asymmetry that changed across vibratory cycles, while the overall level of asymmetry did not contribute to degradations in voice quality measures.

Department dc:contributor.department

Harvard University--MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2010

Author dc:creator

• Mehta, Daryush (Daryush Dinyar)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Robert E. Hillman and Thomas F. Quatieri.

• Harvard University--MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/57543

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/57543