Phonatory Movement of the Pharyngoesophageal Mucosa in Laryngectomy Patients

Plain-language summary

The treatment of advanced laryngeal cancer involves the removal of the entire larynx. After removal of the larynx, the pharyngoesophageal segment (PES) is created by reconstructing the soft tissue of the pharynx and oesophagus, and its vibration creates a substitute voice. High-speed video endoscopy (HSV) is the only method that visualises and measures the vibration of the PES after a laryngectomy. The acoustic characteristics of three forms of rehabilitated voice of laryngectomised individuals (oesophageal voice, tracheoesophageal (TE) voice using a voice prosthesis and electrolarynx) have been satisfactorily described, but the interdependence of acoustic and visual representations of the phonatory movement of the PES is still insufficiently studied. In recent years, biomechanical models have been developed to analyse the vibration of the PES, but consistent results have not yet been obtained that would explain whether the parameters from the analysis of the waveform of the PES can be compared with the parameters obtained from the acoustic analysis of the voice of a laryngectomised patient.Effective rehabilitation focuses on optimising speech and swallowing, which leads to a good integration of the laryngectomised person into society. One step towards achieving this goal is a thorough assessment of their voice and communication experiences, as well as analysing the phonatory movements of the PES using HSV technology.

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