Intra-Operative Laryngoscopic Instrument for Characterizing Vocal Fold Viscoelasticity

Frontiers in Biomedical Devices, 2007

Mark P Ottensmeyer, Michael Yip, Conor J Walsh, James B Kobler, James T Heaton, Steven M Zeitels

Abstract: Our society depends on communication, the most natural form of which is speech. Trauma, disease and the normal aging process will cause many to suffer degraded or lost vocal fold function, and it has been observed that this number is growing [1]. The vocal folds are the vibrating structures in the larynx that enable us to generate voice, from speech to opera singing. The vibrating portions of the folds consist of an external 0.1mm thick layer of epithelial cells, a soft, gel-like 0.5mm thick layer called the lamina propria (LP), a 0.3mm thick vocal ligament and an underlying thyroarytenoid muscle [2]. The fundamental frequency of speech in men is in the 100–150Hz range, and between 200 and 300Hz in women [3].

Ottensmeyer et al. (2007) Intra-Operative Laryngoscopic Instrument for Characterizing Vocal Fold Viscoelasticity, Frontiers in Biomedical Devices, vol. 42665, pp. 133-134.

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