Respiratory Laryngeal Coordination in Airflow Conservation and Reduction of Respiratory Effort of Phonation

Abstract

This study evaluates the need of airflow conservation and the effect of glottal resistance on respiratory effort of phonation under different phonation conditions. A computational model of the pressure-volume-flow relationship of the respiratory system is developed. Simulations show that increasing the glottal resistance reduces the glottal airflow and allows phonation to be sustained for a longer breath group duration. For a given breath group duration, the reduced airflow also allows phonation to be sustained within a narrow range of lung volumes, thus lowering the overall respiratory effort. This study shows that for breath group durations and subglottal pressures typical of normal conversational speech, airflow conservation or maintaining "effortless" respiratory support does not provide a stricter requirement on the glottal resistance than that required for initiating phonation. However, the need for airflow conservation and respiratory effort reduction becomes relevant when the target subglottal pressure and breath group duration increase as in prolonged speech or singing or in conditions of weakened pulmonary function. In those conditions, the glottal resistance is expected to increase proportionally with increasing subglottal pressure to conserve airflow consumption and reduce respiratory effort.