ViSE Seminar Series: Computational modeling of vocal fold vibration for basic and clinical applications in laryngology, SC 5326, Thursday May 30, 11:50. Lunch provided.
ViSE Seminar Series
Computational modeling of vocal fold vibration for basic and clinical applications in laryngology
Thursday May 30, 2013
Location: Stevenson Center 5326; Time: 11:50 (lunch), noon (seminar start)
Speakers:
Bernard Rousseau, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology
Assistant Professor of Hearing and Speech Sciences
Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Director, Laryngeal Biology Laboratory
Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Haoxiang Luo, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology
Director, Computational Flow Physics Laboratory
Vanderbilt University School of Engineering
Abstract:
Voice is a primary tool that nearly all individuals use to communicate in daily life. Its production is a result of the aerodynamic interaction between the glottal airflow and the vocal folds. Optimal function of the vocal fold lamina propria is essential to human voice production. The lamina propria is an area of connective tissue that is uniquely different from tissues found elsewhere in the body. Histological and physiological comparisons can be made with other tissues such as skin and joints that undergo frequent trauma, repeated cycles of inflammation, and decreased function secondary to injury. However, no other tissue in the body undergoes mechanical forces similar to the vibration that the vocal folds experience during phonation. Voice disorders disrupt the normal phonation process and cause alterations in voice quality. The conditions can be severe enough to interfere with an individual’s ability to work and to carry out everyday activities. A physics-based high-fidelity computational model that incorporates individual-specific features of the laryngeal dynamics has applications in basic research to quantify the magnitude and spatial distribution of mechanical stresses within the vocal fold lamina propria during phonation as well as during phonosurgery planning, e.g., for medialization thyroplasty, where the surgical outcome can be evaluated by simulating the effect of the implant on the vocal fold vibration. In our research, we aim to develop such a computer tool by incorporating medical imaging of the laryngeal anatomy and high-speed videoendoscopy of the computational fluid/tissue mechanics. Our research efforts are funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Challenges and current progress will be discussed.