A New Generation Videokymography for Routine Clinical Vocal Fold Examination

Abstract

This study aims to introduce a new-generation videokymographic system, which provides simultaneous laryngoscopic and kymographic image, for routine clinical vocal fold examination. The authors explored a new imaging method for diagnosis and evaluation of voice disorders. The new-generation videokymographic system includes two charge-coupled device image sensors, a color area image sensor, and a monochromic high-speed line-scan image sensor. The high-speed line-scan image sensor is used to capture the kymogram, and the color area image sensor is used to obtain the laryngoscopic image. The two images can be displayed simultaneously on a video monitor or stored in a standard video recorder. Three subjects with nonpathologic voice were investigated in detail with the new videokymographic system. The high-quality laryngoscopic image and kymogram can be used directly for clinical purposes with no further postprocessing. The scan position of the kymogram is always indicated in the laryngoscopic image, which provides feedback for the operator to easily locate the expected scanning position. All varieties of vocal fold vibration, including irregular vibrations, phonation onset and offset, can be observed with the presented method. The continuous kymogram of the vocal fold vibration can be retrieved from a kymographic image sequence for quantitative analysis. The new-generation videokymography provides a simple, quick means to investigate vocal fold vibration, especially for voice disorders. It can emerge as an important tool for routine clinical vocal fold examination.