The Effect of Nasalance on Vocal Fold Oscillation Patterns During the Male Passaggio It is generally assumed that when singing across the region where registration events for untrained voices occur (the passaggio), singers modify the voice production system in order to avoid changes of voice quality. In this context, it has been postulated that nasalance could be used to stabilize vocal function throughout the passaggio. However, whether nasalance is frequently used by professional singers and if so, if it has a stabilizing effect on vocal fold oscillation patterns, is not yet fully understood.

An evaluation of short-term treatment outcomes of Cricothyroid Visor Maneuver: A proof-of-concept Pilot Study Muscle tension dysphonia (MTD) is used as a clinical and diagnostic descriptive label for a diverse range of vocal fold behaviors caused by increased tension of the (para) laryngeal musculature. These increased tension can occur in the cricothyroid muscle and in the ‘‘visor’’ mechanism, contributing to voice problems. The main goal of this study is to determine whether a new method, the cricothyroid visor maneuver (CVM), is an effective method for improving quality and other aspects of the MTD patients' voices.

Compensatory Movement of Contralateral Vocal Folds in Patients With Unilateral Vocal Fold Paralysis Previous studies of subjects with unilateral vocal fold paralysis (UVFP) as observed in a positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) examination have demonstrated false positive results in the contralateral cricoarytenoid, in which the metabolism may be higher. This area may also be the site of contralateral compensatory movement in these patients. In this study, we compared the adduction speed of the contralateral vocal folds in patients with UVFP and in healthy subjects as measured by the stroboscopic laryngoscope frame rate.

Vocal Characteristics of Patients With Morbid Obesity Obesity modifies vocal characteristics, causing abnormal fat deposition in the abdominal region and upper airways. For some authors the voice of the obese is not different from nonobese and the vocal symptoms are scarce; for others dysphonia in obese is reported by 70% of them and the voice becomes hoarse, breathy, and unstable.

Hispanic Ethnicity as a Predictor of Voice Therapy Adherence Voice therapy is a well-studied, evidence-based treatment in the management of voice disorders, yet it is known that adherence rates are generally decreased due to a variety of identified factors. In light of this fact, a high rate of nonadherence to voice therapy has been anecdotally observed in the Hispanic community comprising a sizable portion of the patient population in South Florida.

Comparison of Cepstral Analysis Based on Voiced-Segment Extraction and Voice Tasks for Discriminating Dysphonic and Normophonic Korean Speakers This study investigated whether there are differences in the discriminatory power of cepstral analysis according to the voiced-segment extraction method and voice tasks used for identifying dysphonic and normophonic Korean individuals.

Translation, Validity, and Reliability of the Persian Version of the Aging Voice Index The Aging Voice Index (AVI) was developed to study quality of life in older adults with voice disorders. The purpose of this study was to translate the original English version of the AVI to Persian version of Aging Voice Index (P-AVI) and validate the P-AVI for the Persian-speaking older adults with voice disorders.

A computational study of the effects of vocal fold stiffness parameters on voice production A three-dimensional flow-structure interaction model of voice production is used to investigate the effect of the stiffness parameters of vocal fold layers on voice production. The vocal fold is modeled as a three-layer structure consisting of the cover, ligament, and body layers. All the three layers are modeled as transversely isotropic materials for which the stiffness parameters include the transverse elastic modulus and longitudinal elastic modulus. The results show that, in addition to the obvious monotonic effects on the fundamental frequency, flow rate and glottis opening, the stiffness parameters also have significant and nonmonotonic effects on the divergent angle, open quotient, and closing velocity.

Exercise Science and the Vocalist The application of exercise science training knowledge has been of growing interest to voice professionals. This tutorial, derived from the authors’ invited presentations from the “Exercise and the Voice” Special Session at the 2018 Voice Foundation Symposium, proposes a foundational theoretical structure based in exercise science, clarifies the wide range of variables that may influence voice training, and summarizes our present understanding of voice physiology from the perspective of muscle training.

Assessing and Quantifying Air Added to the Voice by Means of Laryngostroboscopic Imaging, EGG, and Acoustics in Vocally Trained Subjects To assess and quantify singers’ strategies for adding air to phonation to sound “breathy” in a healthy manner