Laryngeal cancer afflicts a large number of people worldwide, and some will need surgery to contain the disease. Currently, tracheoesophageal (TE) speech is a common method of voice rehabilitation for patients who have had their larynges excised. However, despite the relatively high success rate, not everyone is capable of producing the TE voice, usually due to the tonicity of the pharyngoesophageal segment (PES). The present work studies how the tonicity of the muscles of the PES affects TE phonation, focusing mainly on hypotonicity. A simplified collapsible channel model is used. Steady-state solutions are obtained and a linear stability analysis is performed. It is then shown that the steady-state solutions of the model are similar to the wide variety of possible PES configurations that are reported in the literature. The linear stability analysis results provide a simple expression for the estimation of the minimum tonicity required for self-sustained oscillations of the PES.
Tracheoesophageal (TE) speech is an important method of speech rehabilitation for those who undergo a total laryngectomy. Despite the many advantages over other methods, there is still room for improvement in terms of the overall quality of the TE voice as well as its success rate. These points could be greatly assisted by an improved knowledge on the mechanics of TE speech. Here, an experimental model of the pharyngoesophageal segment (PES), based on the idea of a collapsible tube, is proposed. To implement the model, considerable simplifications had to be made, most notably in the use of a thin flexible tube to represent the PES. The model was used to assess the minimum amount of tonicity required for the onset of phonation in terms of the flow rate and longitudinal tension. Additionally, comparisons with a mathematical model [Tourinho, da Silva, dos Santos, Thomaz, and Vieira, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 149, 1979–1988 (2021)] have been made, yielding similar trends for sufficiently large flow rates. The measurements also suggest that the phonation frequency is most affected by the tonicity of the PES, which highlights the question of which physiological mechanism is responsible for the control of the fundamental frequency of phonation.
Tracheoesophageal speech is the most widely used method of speech rehabilitation for those who have undergone a total laryngectomy. Despite its high success rate, the interplay between different factors may inhibit voice production. Among these factors, the amount of muscle contraction in the pharyngoesophageal segment is the most significant one. The present work is aimed at studying the effect of muscle contraction on tracheoesophageal voice production. An experimental model has been developed, in which a silicone tube, acting as the pharyngoesophageal segment, is connected at both ends to rigid tubes representing the pharynx and the esophagus. The effect of the musculature of the pharyngoesophageal segment has been included in the model by two different components. The first one, modeling the tendency of the muscle layer to close the pharyngoesophageal segment, has been taken into account by placing the tube inside a pressurized chamber. The second, modeling the stretching caused by longitudinal muscle fibers, has been included by means of a sliding device in one of the terminations of the silicone tube. The necessary parameters for self-sustained oscillations to occur were measured and compared with predictions made by a mathematical model [Tourinho et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 149, 1979–1988 (2021)].
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