High-speed videoendoscopic analysis of relationships between cepstral-based acoustic measures and voice production mechanisms in patients undergoing phonomicrosurgery.
OBJECTIVE
There is increased interest in using cepstral-based acoustic measures for objective clinical voice assessment because of their apparent advantages over more time-honored methods, but there is a paucity of information about how these newer measures relate to underlying phonatory mechanisms.


METHODS
We investigated the relationships between the acoustic cepstral peak magnitude (CPM) and high-speed videoendoscopy (HSV)-based measures of vocal fold phonatory function in 20 subjects who underwent phonomicrosurgery for vocal fold lesions. Acoustic and imaging data were acquired during sustained vowel phonation before and after surgery.


RESULTS
The changes in the measures between presurgical and postsurgical assessments showed that the CPM correlated significantly with an HSV-based measure combining fundamental frequency deviation and average speed quotient (r = 0.70; p < 0.001) in a multiple linear regression, and that the variation in the CPM could also be attributed to trading relationships between the HSV-based measures of vibratory phase asymmetry and glottal closure.


CONCLUSIONS
These initial results demonstrate that the clinical utility of cepstral-based measures can be enhanced by a better understanding of how these acoustic measures relate to underlying phonatory mechanisms. The CPM seems to integrate information about aperiodicity in vocal fold vibration, the relative speed of glottal closure, and estimates of glottal noise generation.
Center for Laryngeal Surgery and Voice Rehabilitation, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA.
Daryush D
DD
Mehta
Steven M
SM
Zeitels
James A
JA
Burns
Aaron D
AD
Friedman
Dimitar D
DD
Deliyski
Robert E
RE
Hillman
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008866:Microsurgery / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D013018:Sound Spectrography / Q000379:methods; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D049489:Stroboscopy; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014741:Video Recording; D014827:Vocal Cords / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D014832:Voice Disorders / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D014833:Voice Quality