Intraglottal velocity and pressure measurements in a hemilarynx model.

Determining the mechanisms of self-sustained oscillation of the vocal folds requires characterization of the pressures produced by intraglottal aerodynamics. Because most of the intraglottal aerodynamic forces cannot be measured in a tissue model of the larynx, current understanding of vocal fold vibration mechanism is derived from mechanical, analytical, and computational models. Previous studies have computed intraglottal pressures from measured intraglottal velocity fields and intraglottal geometry; however, this technique for determining pressures is not yet validated. In this study, intraglottal pressure measurements taken in a hemilarynx model are compared with pressure values that are computed from simultaneous velocity measurements. The results showed that significant negative pressure formed near the superior aspect of the folds during closing, which agrees with previous measurements in other hemilarynx models. Intraglottal velocity measurements show that the flow near the superior aspect separates from the glottal wall during closing and may develop into a vortex, which further augments the magnitude of negative pressure. Intraglottal pressure distributions, computed by solving the pressure Poisson equation, showed good agreement with pressure measurements. The match between the pressure computations and its measurements validates the current technique, which was previously used to estimate intraglottal pressure distribution in a full larynx model.