Objective measurement of muscle tension in the throat in individuals with muscle tension dysphonia

Not Applicable

• Conditions: Muscle Tension Dysphonia (MTD); Musculoskeletal - Normal musculoskeletal and cartilage development and function

• Registration Number: ACTRN12622000099729
• Lead Sponsor: niversity of Canterbury

Brief Summary

Not available

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Results First Posted: 1900-01-01
• Study Start: 2022-01-24
• Last Update Posted: 31 January 2022

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: ot yet recruiting
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 25

Inclusion Criteria

Phase 1
MTD group:
- 18 years or older
- Able to give informed consent
- Diagnosed with MTD following an endoscopic voice assessment by an otolaryngologist and
Speech-Language Therapist

Healthy group:
- 18 years or older
- Able to give informed consent

Phase 2:
- 18 years or older
- Able to give informed consent
- Currently practicing as a Speech-Language Therapist in New Zealand
- Currently working with patients with voice disorders
- Current or recent (last six months) experience with interpreting laryngeal examinations on endoscopy/stroboscopy

Exclusion Criteria

MTD group:
- Lack of observable supraglottic constriction (muscle tension) during diagnostic examination
- Presence of organic lesions or vocal fold pathology e.g. tumours, nodules or polyps
- Smoking or vaping in the last 6 months
- Upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) in the last 2 weeks

Healthy group:
- Current or historic voice disorders
- Acute loss or impairment of voice in the last month e.g. acute laryngitis
- Smoking or vaping in the last 6 months
- Upper respiratory tract infection in the last 2 weeks

Study & Design

• Study Type: Interventional
• Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Ratio of vocal fold area (in pixels) between rest and during phonation (rest:phon) using still images gathered during endoscopic assessment[Images will be captured at the time of voice assessment during the second endoscope insertion];Pixel value at which 75% of frames sit at or above (taken from the overall pixel value throughout the entire video), using video recorded during endoscopy[Videos captured at the time of voice assessment during the second endoscope insertion];Perceived severity of muscle tension on a scale of 0 (no constriction) - 6 (severe constriction), using endoscopic images[Images captured at the time of voice assessment during the second endoscope insertion]

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Perceived severity of muscle tension on a scale of 0 (no constriction) - 6 (severe constriction), using endoscopic videos[Videos captured at the time of voice assessment during the second endoscope insertion];Cepstral Peak Prominence i.e., a measure of voice quality, using audio files recorded during the second voice assessment/endoscope insertion[Audio captured at the time of voice assessment during the second endoscopic insertion];Harmonics-to-noise ratio i.e., the ratio between periodic and aperiodic components of the voice signal, using audio files recorded during the second voice assessment/endoscope insertion[Audio captured at the time of voice assessment during the second endoscope insertion];High density sEMG:<br>Myoelectrical activation and coordination, obtained from<br> - temporal measures (ms)<br> - spectral measures (Hz)[sEMG data will be obtained during the duration of the fourth endoscopy insertion]