Biofilms were grown on preconditioned voice prostheses with biosurfactants obtained from probiotic bacteria Lactococcus lactis 53 and Streptococcus thermophilus A in an artificial throat model. Both biosurfactants greatly reduced microbial numbers on prostheses and also induced a decrease in the airflow resistance that occurs on voice prostheses after biofilm formation. This study presents a pr...

Résumé : La Prothèse Vocale Intelligente est un système de communication qui reconstitue le sens — supposé — d’une séquence peu structurée d’icônes ou de symboles, et l’exprime par des phrases en langue naturelle (français). Elle a été développée pour l’usage de personnes ne possédant pas la mâıtrise du langage oral, et en particulier incapables de s’exprimer en suivant les règles d’une grammai...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to present a new technique of secondary vocal prosthesis placement on an outpatient basis without general anesthesia by means of digestive endoscopy. METHODS It is a prospective study, 35 laryngectomized patients were sedated with midazolam and underwent digestive endoscopy and tracheoesophageal punch with vocal prosthesis insertion. RESULTS A success rat...

OBJECTIVES We investigated the effect of oropharyngeal Candida colonization on the contamination of the Blom-Singer voice prosthesis and its lifetime. PATIENTS AND METHODS The study included 26 male laryngectomized patients (age range 45 to 76 years) in whom the Blom-Singer low-pressure prosthetic valve inserted required removal due to improper functioning. All patients had postoperative radi...

PURPOSE The supracricoid laryngectomies (SCLs) are conservative surgical techniques for the treatment of selected laryngeal carcinomas. The advantage of SCL is that a permanent tracheostoma is not required, thus, maintaining the principal laryngeal functions. The aim of the study is to report objective, subjective, and self-assessment long-term results of voice and swallowing in a large group o...

A method of pitch-synchronous acoustic analysis of hoarseness requiring a voice sample of only four fundamental periods is presented. This method calculates a noise-to-signal (N/S) ratio, which indicates the depth of valleys between harmonic peaks in the power spectrum. The spectrum is calculated pitch synchronously from a Fourier transform of the signal, windowed through a continuously variabl...

OBJECTIVE To assess the diagnostic value of a novel device, the endoilluminator, in patients who can or cannot attain effective speech after application of voice prosthesis. STUDY DESIGN Prospective clinical study. METHODS Thirty-four patients who underwent total laryngectomy and whose insufflation test was positive were included. As a result of efforts to develop an insufflation test that ...

PURPOSE To longitudinally assess the quality of life in maxillectomy patients rehabilitated with obturator prosthesis. MATERIALS AND METHODS Thirty-six subjects were enrolled in the span of 16 months, out of which six were dropouts. Subjects (age group 20-60 years) with maxillary defects, irrespective of the cause, planned for definite obturator prosthesis, were recruited. The Hindi version o...

UNLABELLED In tracheo esophageal puncture (TEP), we carry out a myotomy of the pharynx constrictor muscle; however, about 9 to 79% of patients need such procedure. The consequence of such procedure is an increase in salivary fistula rates in the postoperative. Botulin toxin is used in an outpatient basis. AIM analyzing the efficacy of botulin toxin (BT) use in the rehabilitation of totally la...