Masanori Umatani1, Makoto Ogawa2, Toshihiko Iwahashi1, Kiyohito Hosokawa1, Chieri Kato1, Hidenori Inohara1. 1. Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Japan. 2. Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Japan; Department of Otorhinolaryngology, JCHO Osaka Hospital, Osaka, Japan. Electronic address: mr3.larynx@gmail.com.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to assess the feasibility of a neck-surface accelerometer (ACC) for estimating the amount of acoustic output produced during phonation regardless of individual differences or the mouth configuration. METHODS: The sound pressure levels (SPL) and signals of a neck-surface ACC were simultaneously recorded, while each of healthy nondysphonic speakers was asked to perform the following phonatory tasks: (1) repetitive phonation of the vowel /e:/ at various loudness levels; (2) gradually increasing vocal loudness (crescendo) during sustained phonation of the vowel /e:/; (3) repetitive smooth transition between phonation of the vowel /a:/ and /u:/ with the same vocal effort or between phonation of the vowel /e:/ and production of a hum /m:/. The skin acceleration levels (SAL) were calculated from the ACC signals. RESULTS: Although the correlations between the SPL and SAL values were nearly linear in both repetitive-vowel-phonation and vowel-crescendo tasks, the crescendo task showed a higher correlation within individuals than the repetitive task, but with substantial individual differences. The correlation between the increments in the SPL and SAL was higher than that between the SPL and SAL. In the smooth-transition tasks, the SAL-but not the SPL-showed no significant differences between the vowels or hum. CONCLUSION: These results show that the signal intensity of a neck-surface ACC reflects the amount of acoustic output during phonation irrespective of the mouth configuration, but shows nonnegligible individual differences. The use of the increment in the SAL is suggested to be suitable for comparing the amount of acoustic output.
OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to assess the feasibility of a neck-surface accelerometer (ACC) for estimating the amount of acoustic output produced during phonation regardless of individual differences or the mouth configuration. METHODS: The sound pressure levels (SPL) and signals of a neck-surface ACC were simultaneously recorded, while each of healthy nondysphonic speakers was asked to perform the following phonatory tasks: (1) repetitive phonation of the vowel /e:/ at various loudness levels; (2) gradually increasing vocal loudness (crescendo) during sustained phonation of the vowel /e:/; (3) repetitive smooth transition between phonation of the vowel /a:/ and /u:/ with the same vocal effort or between phonation of the vowel /e:/ and production of a hum /m:/. The skin acceleration levels (SAL) were calculated from the ACC signals. RESULTS: Although the correlations between the SPL and SAL values were nearly linear in both repetitive-vowel-phonation and vowel-crescendo tasks, the crescendo task showed a higher correlation within individuals than the repetitive task, but with substantial individual differences. The correlation between the increments in the SPL and SAL was higher than that between the SPL and SAL. In the smooth-transition tasks, the SAL-but not the SPL-showed no significant differences between the vowels or hum. CONCLUSION: These results show that the signal intensity of a neck-surface ACC reflects the amount of acoustic output during phonation irrespective of the mouth configuration, but shows nonnegligible individual differences. The use of the increment in the SAL is suggested to be suitable for comparing the amount of acoustic output.
Authors: Laura E Toles; Andrew J Ortiz; Katherine L Marks; James A Burns; Tiffiny Hron; Jarrad H Van Stan; Daryush D Mehta; Robert E Hillman Journal: Am J Speech Lang Pathol Date: 2021-01-20 Impact factor: 2.408