Human phonation does not always involve symmetric motions of the two vocal folds. Asymmetric motions can create slanted or oblique glottal angles. This study reports intraglottal pressure profiles for a Plexiglas model of the larynx with a glottis having a 10-degree divergence angle and either a symmetric orientation or an oblique angle of 15 degrees. For the oblique glottis, one side was divergent and the other convergent. The vocal fold surfaces had 14 pressure taps. The minimal glottal diameter was held constant at 0.04 cm. Results indicated that for either the symmetric or oblique case, the pressure profiles were different on the two sides of the glottis except for the symmetric geometry for a transglottal pressure of 3 cm H2O. For the symmetric case, flow separation created lower pressures on the side where the flow stayed attached to the wall, and the largest pressure differences between the two sides of the channel were 5%-6% of the transglottal pressure. For the oblique case, pressures were lower on the divergent glottal side near the glottal entry and exit, and the cross-channel pressures at the glottis entrance differed by 27% of the transglottal pressure. The empirical pressure distributions were supported by computational results. The observed aerodynamic asymmetries could be a factor contributing to normal jitter values and differences in vocal fold phasing.

No abstract

Modeling the human larynx can provide insights into the nature of the flow and pressures within the glottis. In this study, the intraglottal pressures and glottal jet flow were studied for a divergent glottis that was symmetric for one case and oblique for another. A Plexiglas model of the larynx (7.5 times life size) with interchangeable vocal folds was used. Each vocal fold had at least 11 pressure taps. The minimal glottal diameter was held constant at 0.04 cm. The glottis had an included divergent angle of 10 degrees. In one case the glottis was symmetric. In the other case, the glottis had an obliquity of 15 degrees. For each geometry, transglottal pressure drops of 3, 5, 10, and 15 cm H2O were used. Pressure distribution results, suggesting significantly different cross-channel pressures at glottal entry for the oblique case, replicate the data in another study by Scherer et al. [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 109, 1616-1630 (2001b)]. Flow visualization using a LASER sheet and seeded airflow indicated separated flow inside the glottis. Separation points did not appear to change with flow for the symmetric glottis, but for the oblique glottis moved upstream on the divergent glottal wall as flow rate increased. The outgoing glottal jet was skewed off-axis for both the symmetric and oblique cases. The laser sheet showed asymmetric circulating regions in the downstream region. The length of the laminar core of the glottal jet was less than approximately 0.6 cm, and decreased in length as flow increased. The results suggest that the glottal obliquity studied here creates significantly different driving forces on the two sides of the glottis (especially at the entrance to the glottis), and that the skewed glottal jet characteristics need to be taken into consideration for modeling and aeroacoustic purposes.

A Plexiglas model of the larynx, having a uniform duct shape and minimal diameter of 0.04 cm, was used to obtain wall pressure distributions resulting from internal airflow. Both a symmetric glottis (obliquity of 0 degrees) and a slanted glottis (obliquity of 20 degrees) were used. The oblique glottis (i.e., a glottis that slants relative to the axial tracheal flow) is present in both normal and abnormal phonation. Obliquity has been shown to create unequal cross-channel pressures on the vocal fold surfaces [Scherer et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 109, 1616 (2001)], and the study here continues this line of research. For the oblique glottis, one side was divergent and the other convergent. Transglottal pressures from 3 to 15 cm H2O using constant airflows were used. Results indicated that the pressure distributions on the two sides of the glottis were essentially equal for the symmetric uniform case (pressures differed slightly near the exit due to asymmetric flow downstream of the glottis). For the oblique glottis, the pressures on the vocal fold surfaces at glottal entry differed by 21.4% of the transglottal pressure, suggesting that this oblique glottis creates upstream glottal pressures that may influence out-of-phase motion of the two vocal folds.

This study used a symmetric, three-dimensional, physical model of the larynx called M6 in which the transverse plane of the glottis is formed by sinusoidal arcs for each medial vocal fold surface, creating a maximum glottal width of 0.16 cm at the location of the minimal glottal area. Three glottal angles were studied: convergent 10°, uniform ͑0°͒, and divergent 10°. Fourteen pressure taps were incorporated in the upstream-downstream direction on the vocal fold surface at three coronal locations, at the one-fourth, one-half, and three-fourths distances in the anterior-posterior direction of the glottis. The computational software FLUENT was used to compare and augment the data for these cases. Near the glottal entrance, the pressures were similar across the three locations for the uniform case; however, for the convergent case the middle pressure distribution was lower by 4% of the transglottal pressure, and lower by about 2% for the divergent case. Also, there were significant secondary velocities toward the center from both the anterior commissure and vocal process regions ͑of as much as approximately 10% of the axial velocities͒. Thus, the three dimensionality created relatively small pressure gradients and significant secondary velocities anteriorly-posteriorly within the glottis.