Depth-kymography is the 3D display of the human
vocal fold
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound product ...
vibrations by measuring their vertical and horizontal movements simultaneously, using a specially designed 3D endoscope. This 3D imaging method and the scientific term "Depth-Kymography" were introduced by Dr. Nibu A George, Prof. Frits de Mul and Prof. Harm Schutte. from the University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands in 2007. The term "Depth-Kymography" is included in the current
medical terminology.
Human vocal folds vibrate in a very complex manner. During
phonation vocal folds move in both horizontal and vertical directions. The imaging of vocal fold vibrations is achieved by inserting an endoscope through the mouth. The vocal folds are viewed from the top. Hence, with a normal endoscope, only the horizontal movements of the vocal folds are visible. Endoscopes used for the visualization of larynxes are commonly known as
Laryngoscope
Laryngoscopy () is endoscopy of the larynx, a part of the throat. It is a medical procedure that is used to obtain a view, for example, of the vocal folds and the glottis. Laryngoscopy may be performed to facilitate tracheal intubation during ge ...
s. With a specially designed 3D laryngoscope, movement of the vocal folds in the horizontal and the vertical directions can be simultaneously measured and displayed with horizontal and vertical displacements, forming the two orthogonal planes with time as the third dimension. Using this method, researchers were also able to measure the mucosal wave propagation. Depth-kymography has great potential in the investigation of voice disorders and in phonosurgical applications. It is the next generation of the popular
videokymography
Videokymography is a high-speed medical imaging method to visualize the human vocal fold vibration dynamics. It was invented by Jan G. Švec under the guidance of Harm K. Schutte.
A digital technique for high-speed visualization of vibration, cal ...
.
[Videokymography: high-speed line scanning of vocal fold vibration, J. Voice. 10(2),201-205 (1996).]
See also
*
Kymograph
A kymograph (from Greek κῦμα, swell or wave + γραφή, writing; also called a kymographion) is an analog device that draws a graphical representation of spatial position over time in which a spatial axis represents time. It basically cons ...
References
{{reflist
Medical imaging