Novel insight into the coordination between pelvic floor muscles and the glottis through ultrasound imaging: a pilot study

Rudavsky, Aliza; Turner, Tricia H.

doi:10.1007/s00192-020-04461-8

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…There are few studies with an interdisciplinary view integrating physical medicine with focus on the pelvic floor and singing voice research [ 2 ]. Rudavsky et al used bladder shape distortion visualised with transabdominal ultrasound as a proxy for pelvic floor contraction in ten men and women and found changes in bladder shape during singing, interpreted as a sign of pelvic floor activity [ 9 ]. Bedekar et al conducted a pilot study and showed that singing can be used to train the PFM [ 15 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…MRI is expensive, and it would be difficult to perform in the standing position which is required to study muscle activity during classical singing. One study used transabdominal ultrasound imaging of changes in the shape of the urinary bladder as a proxy for pelvic floor movement during singing [ 9 ], but, to our knowledge, no direct visualization of PFM movement during singing has been evaluated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Pelvic floor status in opera singers. a pilot study using transperineal ultrasound

Volløyhaug,

Semmingsen,

Laukkanen

et al. 2024

BMC Women's Health

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Background Control of pelvic floor muscles (PFM) is emphasized as important to obtain functional breath support in opera singing, but there is not much research that proves PFM function as part of breath support in classical singing. Transperineal ultrasound is a reliable method for quantification of PFM contraction in urogynecology. Our aim was to establish if transperineal ultrasound can be used for observation of movement of the PFM during singing and to quantify pelvic floor contraction. Methods Cross sectional study of 10 professional opera singers examined with transperineal ultrasound in the supine position at rest and contraction, and standing at rest and during singing. Levator hiatal area was measured in a 3D rendered volume. Levator hiatal anteroposterior (AP) diameter and bladder neck distance from symphysis were measured in 2D images. Results The AP diameter was shortened from supine rest to contraction (15 mm), standing (6 mm) and singing (9 mm), all p < 0.01. The bladder neck had a non-significant descent of 3 mm during singing. The mean proportional change in AP diameter from rest to contraction was 24.2% (moderate to strong contraction) and from rest to singing was 15% (weak to moderate contraction). Conclusions Transperineal ultrasound can be used to examine the PFM during singing. The classically trained singers had good voluntary PFM contraction and moderate contraction during singing. AP diameter was significantly shortened from supine to upright position, with further shortening during singing, confirming that female opera singers contracted their pelvic floor during singing.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%