Biomechanics of voice production

语音障碍是一生中最常见的沟通障碍。据估计，3-9%的儿童和成人在任何给定的时间点都有声音问题。超过50%的人在他们的职业中使用他们的声音，如演员和歌手，在他们的职业生涯中的某个时候经历过声音障碍。 拟议的多学科研究计划的长期目标涉及从机械工程，如设计，有限元建模和机械测试的知识和方法的应用，以改善治疗方法和植入物的目的在喉科学的基础研究。 该研究的具体目标是：1）使用新的实验方法在宏观和微观尺度上精确地量化声带组织的机械粘弹性行为; 2）基于表征材料的微观结构及其生物和化学组成和组织的参数，建立声带组织在机械载荷下的机械响应的数学模型; 3）设计和建造高保真声带生物反应器，其精确地复制与发声相关的应力和应变，具有相似的运动学和动力学特征;以及4）创建健康和患病声带振动的有限元模型，所述有限元模型是个体受试者特有的并且基于具有从高速视频内窥镜检查获得的数据的喉长的三维图像，电子声门图和反向过滤声门气流速率。机械应力的准确定量是必要的，最终与声带损伤和恢复的关键生物因素的数量相关。这可能有助于伤口修复新技术的开发，并提供有价值的建模工具，可用于未来的治疗。例如，这些模型可能有一天有助于确定语音创伤后的最佳语音状态。这是朝着针对患者的治疗和护理的长期目标迈出的一小步。

Voice disorders are the most common communication disorders across the lifespan. An estimated 3-9% of children and adults have a voice problem at any given point in time. More than 50% of individuals who use their voice in their profession, such as actors and singers, experience a voice disorder at some point during their career. The long term goals of the proposed multidisciplinary research program involve the application of knowledge and methods from mechanical engineering, such as design, finite element modeling and mechanical testing, to basic research in laryngology with the purpose of improving therapeutic methods and implants. The specific aims of the proposed research are: 1) to use novel experimental methods to accurately quantify the mechanical viscoelastic behaviour of vocal fold tissue at the macroscopic and microscopic scales; 2) to create mathematical models of the mechanical response of vocal fold tissue under mechanical loads, based on parameters characterizing the microstructure of the material and its biological and chemical composition and organization; 3) to design and build a high-fidelity vocal fold bioreactor that accurately replicates stresses and strains associated with voice production, with similar kinematic and dynamic features; and 4) to create finite element models of the vibrations of healthy and diseased vocal folds that are specific to individual subjects and based on three-dimensional images of the larynx long with data obtained from high-speed video-endoscopy, electro-glottography and inverse-filtered glottal airflow rate. The accurate quantification of mechanical stresses is needed for eventual correlations with the quantity of key biological factors involved in vocal fold injury and recovery. This may help the development of new technologies for wound repair and supply valuable modeling tools that could be useful in future therapeutic treatments. Such models may one day, for example, help determine the optimal voice regime following phonotrauma. This constitutes a small step towards the long-term goal of patient-specific treatment and care.