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Quantification of Porcine Vocal Fold Geometry
Kimberly A Stevens1, Scott L Thomson1, Marie E Jetté2
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
Journal of Voice : Official Journal of the Voice Foundation
|August 22, 2015
Summary
Freezing porcine larynges caused about 5% geometric distortion, with vocal fold geometry comparable to canine and human data. This research aids in developing accurate vocal fold models.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Anatomy
- Laryngology
Background:
- Accurate vocal fold models are crucial for understanding voice production and treating laryngeal disorders.
- Porcine larynges are often used as anatomical models, but their geometric properties and the effects of preservation methods require detailed quantification.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify the medial surface geometry of porcine vocal folds.
- To assess the three-dimensional geometric distortion induced by freezing the larynx, particularly in the vocal fold region.
Main Methods:
- Five excised porcine larynges were scanned using micro-CT.
- Larynges were frozen and rescanned to quantify geometric changes.
- Three-dimensional reconstructions and segmentations were used to analyze geometry and distortion.
Main Results:
- Freezing caused approximately 5% expansion in the transverse plane and similar distortion in sagittal and coronal planes.
- Porcine vocal fold medial surface geometry showed reasonable similarity to canine and human data.
- A discrepancy was noted with one published human female vocal fold geometry dataset.
Conclusions:
- Porcine vocal folds exhibit geometric similarities to canine, human, and synthetic models.
- Freezing introduces about 5% bulk distortion to laryngeal tissue.
- The findings provide data for estimating freezing-induced uncertainty and for developing improved vocal fold models.
