Improving Voice Production for Adults with Age-related Dysphonia

项目摘要/摘要： 大约有1300万美国人患有与年龄相关的发音困难，这是一种沟通障碍 声音沙哑，声音微弱。沟通困难使老年人患精神和精神疾病的风险增加 身体健康问题，发音困难特别干扰参加工作的能力 在嘈杂的环境中和通过电话交谈时，要被听到和理解。尽管 成功治疗老年性发音障碍的重要性，发音治疗和手术改善发音 只有一小部分患者。改善老年性发音困难治疗算法的一个关键障碍是缺乏 了解嗓音治疗技术如何改变嗓音，以及哪些因素会缓和这种变化 进步。这一应用的目标是确定特定治疗的机制 任务可以改善与年龄相关的发音困难，以及限制改善程度的条件。这个 目的是为了理解声音疗法的物理学，可以用来研究的方面 从语音用户收集的生理数据结合理论和计算模型。这个 具体目标是：(1)确定改变呼吸、发声功能和声道的治疗任务 形状改变老年发音障碍患者的声带振动，以及(2)通过 计算模拟呼吸和声道参数的改变如何改变声门血流， 声学信号和语音质量。 在目标1中，我们将使用喉部高速视频内窥镜来测量声带的变化 当参与者完成几个发声治疗任务时，运动学。在目标2中，我们将个性化计算 从目标1到参与者子集的声道模型，以模拟个体的增量变化 气流和声道参数以及这些参数的组合。结果将使用以下工具进行分析 空气动力学、声学和感知测量。总而言之，这些研究将提供信息 有必要确定特定任务改善发声功能和嗓音质量的机制。这个 结果将被用来生成一个矩阵，显示声带振动、声学的改善程度 对于给定的严重程度，每个治疗任务或任务组合的测量和语音质量。这个 MATRIX将根据最初的患者陈述为治疗计划提供指导，并将提供指导 为未来的新疗法做准备。所得到的算法将在未来的工作中使用人类受试者进行测试。

Project Summary/Abstract: Approximately 13 million Americans suffer from age-related dysphonia, a communication disorder resulting in hoarseness and weak voice. Communication difficulty places older adults at increased risk for mental and physical health problems, and dysphonia specifically interferes with the ability to participate in the work force and to be heard and understood when speaking in noisy environments and over the phone. Despite the importance of successful treatment of age-related dysphonia, voice therapy and surgery improve voice for a just small fraction of patients. A key barrier to improving treatment algorithms in age-related dysphonia is lack of knowledge about how voice therapy techniques change voice and which factors moderate that improvement. The objectives for this application are to determine the mechanisms by which specific therapy tasks improve voice in age-related dysphonia, and the conditions that limit the extent of improvement. The aims are directed at understanding the physics of voice therapies, aspects that can be studied with physiological data collected from voice users combined with theoretical and computational models. The Specific Aims are: (1) To determine how therapy tasks that modify respiration, vocal function, and vocal tract shape alter vocal fold vibration in older adults with age-related dysphonia, and (2) To determine through computational modeling how modifications to respiratory and vocal tract parameters alter glottal flow, the acoustic signal, and voice quality. In Aim 1, we will use laryngeal high-speed videoendoscopy to measure the changes to vocal fold kinematics as participants complete several voice therapy tasks. In Aim 2, we will personalize a computational vocal tract model to a subset of participants from Aim 1 in order to simulate incremental changes to individual airflow and vocal tract parameters and combinations of the parameters. Results will be analyzed using aerodynamic, acoustic, and perceptual measures. Taken together, the studies will provide the information necessary to determine the mechanisms by which specific tasks improve vocal function and voice quality. The results will be used to generate a matrix showing the extent of improvement to vocal fold vibration, acoustic measures, and voice quality with each therapy task or combination of tasks for a given severity level. The matrix will provide guidance for therapy planning based on initial patient presentation and will provide direction for novel therapies in the future. The resulting algorithm will be tested using human subjects in future work.