Vocal fold vibration measurements using laser Doppler vibrometry.

The objective of this study was to measure the velocity of the superior surface of human vocal folds during phonation using laser Doppler vibrometry (LDV). A custom-made endoscopic laser beam deflection unit was designed and fabricated. An in vivo clinical experimental procedure was developed to simultaneously collect LDV velocity and video from videolaryngoscopy. The velocity along the direction of the laser beam, i.e., the inferior-superior direction, was captured. The velocity was synchronous with electroglottograph and sound level meter data. The vibration energy of the vocal folds was determined to be significant up to a frequency of 3 kHz. Three characteristic vibrational waveforms were identified which may indicate bifurcations between vibrational modes of the mucosal wave. No relationship was found between the velocity amplitude and phonation frequency or sound pressure level. A correlation was found between the peak-to-peak displacement amplitude and phonation frequency. A sparse map of the velocity amplitudes on the vocal fold surface was obtained.