Sunday, May 18, 2025
5/18/2025
Ultrasound Elasticity Imaging of the Vibrating Vocal Folds - Project Summary The overall prevalence of human voice disorders is relatively high, particularly among professions that rely on proper voice production. The primary source of voice production in humans is the vibration of the vocal folds (a.k.a. vocal cords) of the larynx. Precise contraction of laryngeal muscles, which changes the tension on the vocal folds, is responsible for controlling the primary pitch of our voice, as process called vocal fold posturing. While experiments on excised tissue and computational models can help elucidate the role that the muscle contraction plays in controlling vocal pitch, clinical voice assessment is still required to diagnose disfunction, plan treatment strategies, and monitor patient recovery following surgeries or other therapies. Recommended clinical protocols for voice assessment include laryngeal endoscopy, acoustic measurements, and aerodynamic pressure and flow measurements. Of these, only high-speed endoscopy, an invasive technique that inhibits proper feedback, can image the vocal fold vibrations in live subjects. Recently, however, Ultrasound imaging has been shown to improve the assessment of certain pathologies of the vocal folds, which is less invasive, cheaper and allows for better visualization of internal anatomy. This study proposes to develop a novel US elastography technique to allow for the non-invasive measurement of patient specific, non-linear elastic VF properties on a live subject who can provide biofeedback during evaluation. Our long-term goal is to develop a technique that will allow for the patient-specific evaluation of vocal fold vibratory characteristics to improve diagnosis and monitoring of voice pathologies. This proposal serves as a critical first step toward this goal, with the objective herein to demonstrate that our technique can accurately measure the changes in the vocal fold mechanical properties with increasing FFP. Our central hypothesis is that the measurement of vocal fold vibrations will allow us to study the relationship between the apparent vocal fold stiffness and voice pitch, and that characterizing this relationship will lead to a paradigm shift in the diagnosis of a range of voice disorders, including atrophy, the scarring or stiffening of the folds, vocal fold nodules, and paralysis, which could lead to more effective treatment and better outcomes for patients with voice disorders.
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