ANATOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE VOCAL TRACT--MRI PROCEDURES

声道结构在整个生命周期中起着言语交流和食物摄取的作用。尤其是在婴儿期、幼儿期和青春期，这些结构的大小、形状和相对结构都会发生变化，影响它们参与口腔运动功能。尽管解剖重建的证据令人信服，但对这一过程的细节的了解却非常有限。这项研究有两个主要目标：(1)研究正常声道生长儿童声道结构的解剖发育；(2)将正常生长儿童的研究结果与有记录的言语障碍儿童的数据进行比较，部分原因是继发于染色体异常的特征结构差异，即21三体。这些目标将通过使用磁共振成像(MRI)来实现，MRI适用于研究构成声道的软组织和硬组织。该程序需要选择合适的MR图像，将这些图像数字化，并利用图像测量软件来获得36个预定义的头部和颈部区域的数据。建议的测量集比任何已发表的数据源都更广泛，因此有望大幅增加有关声道生长和发育的信息。出生年龄到4岁的儿童的初步结果支持了文献中的推断，即某些结构具有同步生长，并且这种协调生长在加速生长(生长突发期)期间明显。要检查的具体问题包括：a)硬组织和软组织的相对生长速度；b)不同结构的协调生长；即(硬组织和软组织)生长的同步性；c)生长突增和生长突增的同步性；d)记录和预测声道结构生长的理想指数；e)声道结构生长的性别差异；f)青春期前后的生长模式比较；g)正常儿童和21三体畸形儿童解剖生长的异同。本项目的正常方面焦点包括4至18岁(成熟年龄)的受试者；紊乱方面焦点包括出生至21岁之间的唐氏综合症(DS)受试者。本研究的结果有助于加深对颅面发育的认识，特别是在言语发育和言语产生方面具有重要的理论和临床意义。

The vocal tract structures subserve the functions of speech communication and food ingestion throughout the lifespan. Especially during the periods of infancy, early childhood, and adolescence, these structures undergo changes in size, shape, and relative configuration that affect their participation in oral motor functions. Although the evidence for anatomic remodeling is compelling, knowledge of the details of the process is remarkably limited. This research has two primary goals: (1) to study the anatomic development of the vocal tract structures in children with normal vocal tract growth; and (2) to compare the findings from children with normal growth to data from children with documented speech disorders partially attributable to characteristic structural differences secondary to chromosomal aberration, namely Trisomy 21. These goals will be achieved through the use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), which is suited for the study of both soft and hard tissues that comprise the vocal tract. The procedure entails the selection of suitable MR images, digitizing these images, and utilizing image measurement software to obtain data for 36 predefined measures of the head and neck regions. The measurement set proposed is more extensive than that in any published data source and therefore promises a substantial increase in information on vocal tract growth and development. Preliminary results from children between the ages of birth to 4 years support inferences from the literature that some structures have synchronous growth and that such coordinated growth is evident during periods of accelerated growth (growth spurts). Specific issues to examine include: a) the relative rates of growth of the hard and soft tissues; b) the coordinated growth of the different structures; i.e. synchrony in growth (both hard and soft tissues); c) growth spurts, and synchrony in growth spurts; d) the ideal index to document and predict the growth of the vocal tract structures; e) gender related differences in the growth of the vocal tract structures; f) comparison of growth patterns pre versus post adolescence; g) anatomic growth similarities and differences in normal children and children with Trisomy 21. The normal aspect focus of this project includes subjects between the ages 4 and 18 (age of maturity); the disordered aspect focus includes subjects with Down's syndrome (DS) between the ages birth to 21. The findings of this study contribute to knowledge on craniofacial development, and are of theoretical and clinical significance particularly in the areas of speech development and speech production.