Ambulatory monitoring of disordered voices.
OBJECTIVE
Recently developed systems for ambulatory monitoring of voice use employ miniature accelerometers placed at the base of the anterior neck to sense phonation. As it is hoped that such systems will help improve the clinical assessment and management of voice disorders, this study was undertaken to determine the impact of dysphonia severity on the accuracy of accelerometer-based estimates of vocal function.


METHODS
Simultaneous recordings were made of oral acoustic (microphone) and neck skin acceleration signals for 6 normal speakers and 18 patients with voice disorders (mild to severe dysphonia) as they performed several speech tasks. Measures of phonation time, fundamental frequency, and sound pressure level were extracted from the two types of signals and compared.


RESULTS
It was generally demonstrated that accelerometer-based measures closely approximated corresponding measurements obtained from a microphone signal across all levels of dysphonia severity. Furthermore, there was evidence that in some cases the accelerometer may actually represent a more robust approach for estimating phonation parameters in disordered voices.


CONCLUSIONS
The results generally support the recent application of accelerometers as phonation sensors in ambulatory voice monitoring systems that can be used in the clinical assessment and management of voice disorders.
Hillman
Robert E
RE
Department of Surgery, Harvard Medical School, MGH Center for Laryngeal Surgery and Voice Rehabilitation, One Bowdoin Square, Ilth Floor, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
Heaton
James T
JT
Masaki
Asa
A
Zeitels
Steven M
SM
Cheyne
Harold A
HA
D000328:Adult; D018450:Disease Progression; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory / Q000295:instrumentation*; D010699:Phonation / Q000502:physiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014832:Voice Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014833:Voice Quality / Q000502:physiology*