Development and testing of an intraoral electrolarynx for laryngectomy patients.
A wireless intraoral electrolarynx for laryngectomy patients has been developed. The instrument consists of an earphone receiver and a pickup coil housed in the patient's denture. A separate transmitter with hand switch, worn under the patient's clothing, activates the receiver. Intelligibility testing revealed that this device was comparable to the Verbalizer Electrolarynx, a transoral instrument similar to the Cooper-Rand Electrolarynx. If the long-term endurance study now in progress proves that the device can meet the communicative needs of the laryngectomee, and if the favorable results obtained in this study can be duplicated with subsequent instruments, this electrolarynx may be a viable alternative to others now available.
D006801:Humans; D007825:Laryngectomy; D009055:Mouth; D010158:Palatal Obturators / Q000295:instrumentation; D013071:Speech, Alaryngeal / Q000295:instrumentation*