An acoustic study of sustained vowels produced by patients after thyroid surgery

The aim of this study is to assess the consequences of thyroid surgery on the voice of patients, in order to identify various perturbations which this surgery may provoke, and also to reveal possible compensatory strategies or readjustments that the patient may develop. The assessment was based on the analysis of acoustic signals, from which a large amount of cues related to voice quality was extracted. The experiment deals with the spectral characteristics of the voice of patients who underwent thyroidectomy, with no laryngeal paralysis. Our interpretations, made from the acoustic data, reveal perturbations of gestures on the glottal level, with readjustment strategies varying according to patients. The concept of a "target" as a control space for execution of possible articulatory and acoustic entities, which are perceptually acceptable, seems particularly relevant in this study, since disordered speakers reorganise their productions according to their own physiological and anatomical constraints, caused by the disorder.