BACKGROUND neurological dysphonias are normally associated to dysarthrias and play an important role when determining the correct diagnosis. The acoustic analysis of the voice is important for understanding the speech motor disorders present in dysarthric patients. AIM to describe the acoustic and auditory-perceptual characteristics of the voice of the different types of dysarthria. METHOD ...

The purpose of this study was to compare nasalance values in tracheoesophageal (TE) voice prosthesis and laryngeal speakers. Nasalance measures were obtained from 10 age-matched male TE speakers and 10 healthy male laryngeal speakers reading the Zoo Passage and Nasal Sentences. All TE speakers were rated as good to excellent in terms of speech proficiency and intelligibility. Nasalance scores w...

PURPOSE To evaluate and correlate the amplitude of esophageal contractions triggered by swallowing water with dynamic extension and habitual, strong and weak sound intensity in total laryngectomees wearing a tracheoesophageal prosthesis. METHODS Thirty total laryngectomees using tracheoesophageal voice with a phonatory prosthesis were evaluated by measuring the amplitude of contractions in th...

This paper investigates a method for the real-time reconstruction of normal speech from whispers. This system could be used by aphonic individuals as a voice prosthesis. It could also provide improved verbal communication when normal speech is not appropriate. The normal speech is synthesized using the mixed excitation linear prediction model. Differences between whispered and phonated speech a...

malignancies of the midface result in cosmetic deformities that make maxillofacial prosthesis as an integral part of the treatment plan. facial defects can be devastating in their impact on physical structure and function of the affected individual, leading to potentional compromises in quality of life. reconstruction of nasal defects is a challenge for the prosthodontist because of esthetic an...

The tracheoesophageal voice prosthesis (TEP) has seen wide success in thousands of patients who lost their ability to speak after a total laryngectomy. The device is small, sterile, and is operated by blocking the stoma to redirect air into the esophagus, allowing discernible speech. However, the physical blocking of the stoma can eventually become inconvenient for frequent speakers and perhaps...

Surgical resection of soft palate due to cancer affects the effective functioning of the velopharyngeal mechanism (speech and deglutition). With the loss of speech intelligibility, hyper resonance in voice and impaired function of swallowing (due to nasal regurgitation), there is a depreciation in the quality of life of such an individual. In a multidisciplinary setup, the role of a prosthodont...

After total laryngectomy, the placement of a tracheoesophageal (TE) prosthesis offers the possibility to recover a new voice. However, the quality of the resulting TE speech is known to be degraded. To assess a patient’s voice, current approaches rely either on quality-of-life questionnaires or on a perceptual evaluation carried out by speech therapists. These two methods exhibit the disadvanta...