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Review
. 2008 Jun;16(3):211-5.
doi: 10.1097/MOO.0b013e3282fe96ce.

Voice assessment: updates on perceptual, acoustic, aerodynamic, and endoscopic imaging methods

Daryush D Mehta  1 , Robert E Hillman
Affiliations
Review

Voice assessment: updates on perceptual, acoustic, aerodynamic, and endoscopic imaging methods

Daryush D Mehta et al. Curr Opin Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2008 Jun.

Abstract

Purpose of review: This paper describes recent advances in perceptual, acoustic, aerodynamic, and endoscopic imaging methods for assessing voice function.

Recent findings: We review advances from four major areas. PERCEPTUAL ASSESSMENT: Speech-language pathologists are being encouraged to use the new consensus auditory-perceptual evaluation of voice inventory for auditory-perceptual assessment of voice quality, and recent studies have provided new insights into listener reliability issues that have plagued subjective perceptual judgments of voice quality. ACOUSTIC ASSESSMENT: Progress is being made on the development of algorithms that are more robust for analyzing disordered voices, including the capability to extract voice quality-related measures from running speech segments. AERODYNAMIC ASSESSMENT: New devices for measuring phonation threshold air pressures and air flows have the potential to serve as sensitive indices of glottal phonatory conditions, and recent developments in aeroacoustic theory may provide new insights into laryngeal sound production mechanisms. ENDOSCOPIC IMAGING: The increased light sensitivity of new ultra high-speed color digital video processors is enabling high-quality endoscopic imaging of vocal fold tissue motion at unprecedented image capture rates, which promises to provide new insights into the mechanisms of normal and disordered voice production.

Summary: Some of the recent research advances in voice function assessment could be more readily adopted into clinical practice, whereas others will require further development.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a) Frames of mucosal wave (MW) playback (top) at different phases of the intra-glottal cycle and the corresponding frames (bottom). The opening phase motion of the mucosal edges is encoded in shades of green (light gray in print version), and the closing phase motion is displayed in red (dark gray in print version). (b) A medial position frame of a mucosal wave kymography (MKG) playback. The MKG image brightness relates to the speed of motion of the mucosal edges, and the color shows the phase of motion (opening is green, closing is red). The mucosal wave extent appears as a double-edged or thicker curve during the closing phase. From Figures 3 and 4 in [16]. Used with permission.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. [Accessed December 19, 2007.];Consensus Auditory-Perceptual Evaluation of Voice (CAPE-V) Available at: http://www.asha.org/about/membership-certification/divs/div_3.htm.
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    1. Kreiman J, Gerratt BR, Ito M. When and why listeners disagree in voice quality assessment tasks. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 2007;122:2354–2364. This is the first study that quantifies the extent to which experimental design factors affect listener variability. Cf. [4] - PubMed
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