Abstract
PURPOSE: Advancing from previous work on ultrasonography (USG)-aided measures including vocal fold morphology and symmetry, vocal fold length (VFL), vocal fold displacement velocity (VFDV) and its acoustic correlates [1], the present study broadened the investigation by exploring additional parameters such as glottal area during the inhalation phase of quiet breathing (QB), its relationship with VFL, VFDV and acoustic measures such as fundamental frequency (f(0)), jitter, cepstral peak prominence (CPP) in young normophonic adults (25-30 years). METHOD: A total of 117 participants were recruited from our hospital, and USG was performed on them across tasks like QB and vowel phonation (/a/ and /i/). A detailed voice evaluation including perceptual analysis of voice using GRBAS (Grade Roughness Breathiness Asthenia Scale) to grade the voice quality and acoustic analysis using Praat software to measure voice parameters was carried out. RESULTS: The mean glottal area during the inhalation phase of quiet breathing (QB) was found to be 1.407 cm² (SD = 0.086 cm²) in males and 1.106 cm² (SD = 0.080 cm²) in females. Significant correlation was found between glottal area and VFL, VFDV and CPP values during /i/ phonation. CONCLUSION: Based on these results, we recommend that USG-aided estimation of glottal area can serve as a potential vocal fold biomarker for clinicians and researchers in laryngology.