Clinical report on preliminary data on intraoral pressure in the evaluation of laryngeal pathology

Abstract

<h2>Summary</h2> The consonant /b/, when surrounded by vowels, is accompanied by vocal fold vibration even during occlusion of the supraglottal cavity. Since the voicing of /b/ involves a relatively loose closure of the glottis and smaller amplitudes of vibration than those observed during the production of vowels, the transglottal pressure during /b/ production approximates that of the oscillation threshold pressure. Since the intraoral pressure of /p/ production is approximately equal to subglottal pressure of the surrounding vowels, the differences in peak intraoral pressure between the productions of /i:pi:/ and /i:bi:/ can be assumed to reflect the transglottal pressure during /b/ production. In a clinical investigation, the differences in the peak intraoral pressures of /i:pi:/ and /i:bi:/ were found to be higher in conditions typified by stiff vocal folds, such as laryngeal cancer and partial laryngectomy, than in those typified by flaccid folds, such as vocal cord polyp and palsy. This suggests that the intraoral pressure differences between /i:pi:/ and /i:bi:/ may constitute a parameter indicative of vocal cord stiffness