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Updated: Aug 25, 2026

Investigating the Three-dimensional Flow Separation Induced by a Model Vocal Fold Polyp
Published on: February 3, 2014
Chaotic vibrations of a vocal fold model with a unilateral polyp
1Department of Surgery, Division of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, University of Wisconsin Medical School, Madison, Wisconsin 53792-7375, USA. zhang@surgery.wisc.edu
Abstract:
A nonlinear model was proposed to study chaotic vibrations of vocal folds with a unilateral vocal polyp. The model study found that the vocal polyp affected glottal closure and caused aperiodic vocal fold vibrations. Using nonlinear dynamic methods, aperiodic vibrations of the vocal fold model with a polyp were attributed to low-dimensional chaos. Bifurcation diagrams showed that vocal polyp size, stiffness, and damping had important effects on vocal fold vibrations. An increase in polyp size tended to induce subharmonic patterns and chaos. This study provides a theoretical basis to model aperiodic vibrations of vocal folds with a laryngeal mass.
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