A cyber-physical model of vocal fold posturing

Non-phonotraumatic vocal hyperfunction (VH) is characterized by excessive or imbalanced muscle activity in the larynx. Unfortunately, current experimental methods for investigating VH are limited as they rely on simplified geometries and can only accommodate changes to the VF posture in the medial-lateral direction. We propose a physiologically relevant laryngeal model such that synthetic VFs are attached anteriorly and laterally to the thyroid cartilage, whereas at the posterior end they are attached to the arytenoids. The arytenoids can be articulated in both the anterior-posterior and medial-lateral directions as well as being rotated about the cricoarytenoid joint center, to simulate posturing based on the output of a prior numerical model of muscle activation. The objective of this study is to determine how aerodynamic and kinematic parameters of phonation (e.g., fundamental frequency, PTP, flowrate, and SPL) vary as a function of glottal posture. Results will investigate these parameters and compare them with clinical and numerical investigations to determine their suitability as a first ever cyber physical model of muscle activation and VF posturing.