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. 2011 Sep 1;6(3):305-322.
doi: 10.2174/157489311796904637.

In vitro experimental investigation of voice production

Stefan Kniesburges  1 , Scott L Thomson, Anna Barney, Michael Triep, Petr Sidlof, Jaromír Horáčcek, Christoph Brücker, Stefan Becker
Affiliations

In vitro experimental investigation of voice production

Stefan Kniesburges et al. Curr Bioinform. .

Abstract

The process of human phonation involves a complex interaction between the physical domains of structural dynamics, fluid flow, and acoustic sound production and radiation. Given the high degree of nonlinearity of these processes, even small anatomical or physiological disturbances can significantly affect the voice signal. In the worst cases, patients can lose their voice and hence the normal mode of speech communication. To improve medical therapies and surgical techniques it is very important to understand better the physics of the human phonation process. Due to the limited experimental access to the human larynx, alternative strategies, including artificial vocal folds, have been developed. The following review gives an overview of experimental investigations of artificial vocal folds within the last 30 years. The models are sorted into three groups: static models, externally driven models, and self-oscillating models. The focus is on the different models of the human vocal folds and on the ways in which they have been applied.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic of the human larynx based on Gray [6]: a) Sagittal cross-section of the human head and neck, with the position of larynx within the neck denoted. b) Coronal cross-section of the human larynx along with the following geometrical parameters: diameter of the glottis d, thickness of the vocal folds T, and the length of the glottal duct t.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematic of the human larynx framework, based on Gray [6]: a) Posterior view (front). b) Anterior view (back).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Schematic of the top view of the human larynx, based on Gray [6] along with the following geometrical parameter: anterior-posterior length of the vocal folds l.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Inner morphology of the vocal fold, based on Titze [1]: Within the intermediate layer the black-filled dots mark the elastin fibers, whereas the empty dots in the deep layer denote the collagen fibers.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Schematic of the geometry of the glottal duct during oscillation at four different instances of a glottal period T0 [19].
Figure 6
Figure 6
Schematic of the M5 vocal fold model. For appropriate dimensions and geometric constraints, see Scherer et al. [12]
Figure 7
Figure 7
Test setup with externally driven vocal folds proposed by Triep et al. [66, 67, 68]
Figure 8
Figure 8
Flexible vocal fold model consisting of polyurethane rubber proposed by Thomson et al. [80] based on the geometry of the M5 model by Scherer et al. [12] displayed in the fig. 6
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Titze IR. Principles of voice production. Prentice Hall; 1994.
    1. Titze IR, Alipour F. The myoelastic aerodynamic theory of phonation. National Center for Voice and Speech; 2006.
    1. Fant G. Acoustic Theory of Speech Production. de Gruyter Mouton; 1970.
    1. Fant G. The source filter concept in voice production. STL-QPSR. 1981;22(1):21–37.
    1. McCoy S. Your Voice: An Inside View. Inside View Press; 2004.

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