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Induced asymmetries in an excised larynx model: Impact of mucus characteristics on dynamics and acoustics

Subject Area Otolaryngology, Phoniatrics and Audiology
Term from 2015 to 2022
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 281313362
 
Final Report Year 2022

Final Report Abstract

This project contributed to fill the knowledge gap on the influence of mucus on phonation. The following scientific achievements can be reported: (1) The viscoelasticity of physiologic human laryngeal mucus was determined successfully by PTM and OSR. This enabled the (2) development of synthetic mucus with physiologic viscoelasticity for voice research. (3) The expansion of our automated ex vivo experimental setup, developed in the previous phase of this project, by a method for reproducible synthetic mucus application, enabled to investigate mucus as bounday layer between airflow and oscillating vocal fold tissue. Finally, (4) the performance of ex vivo oscillation experiments to investigate the influence of mucus viscoelasticity, led to the assumption that phonation is robust against the physiologic viscoelastic range of the developed synthetic mucus. In next steps, we want to continue our promising research on the impact of mucus on phonation and focus on pathologic mucus conditions of patients which suffer of diseases that alter mucus viscoelasticity, i.e. asthma, COPD and carcinomas of the vocal folds. On the basis of rheological investigations on pathologic mucus, we will adapt the viscoelasticity of our synthetic mucus to pathologic conditions and quantify its influence on phonation by ex vivo oscillation experiments. This will bring us closer to the final goal of development of therapeutical strategies and pharmaceutical products, e.g. lozenges, sprays, mucus substitutes, for the treatment of mucus dysfunction to influence voice beneficially.

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