The Flow and Pressure Relationships in Different Tubes Commonly Used for Semi-occluded Vocal Tract Exercises

This experimental study investigated the back pressure (pback) versus flow (U) relationship for 10 different tubes commonly used for semi-occluded vocal tract exercises (SOVTE), i.e., 8 straws of different lengths and diameters, a resonance tube and a silicone tube similar to a Lax Vox tube. All tubes were assessed with the free end in air. The resonance tube and silicone tube were further assessed with the free end under water at the depths from 1 to 7 cm in steps of 1 cm. The results showed that relative changes in the diameter of straws affect pback considerably more compared to the same amount of relative change in length. Additionally, once tubes are submerged into water, pback needs to overcome the pressure generated by the water depth before flow can start. Under this condition, only a small increase in pback was observed as the flow was increased. Therefore, the wider tubes submerged into water produced an almost constant pback determined by the water depth, while the thinner straws in air produced relatively large changes to pback as flow was changed. These differences may be taken advantage of when customizing exercises for different users and diagnoses and optimizing the therapy outcome

Acoustic cues to femininity and masculinity in spontaneous speech

The perceived level of femininity and masculinity is a prominent property by which a speaker’s voice is indexed, and a vocal expression incongruent with the speaker’s gender identity can greatly contribute to gender dysphoria. Our understanding of the acoustic cues to the levels of masculinity and femininity perceived by listeners in voices is not well developed, and an increased understanding of them would benefit communication of therapy goals and evaluation in gender-affirming voice training. We developed a voice bank with 132 voices with a range of levels of femininity and masculinity expressed in the voice, as rated by 121 listeners in independent, individually randomized perceptual evaluations. Acoustic models were developed from measures identified as markers of femininity or masculinity in the literature using penalized regression and tenfold cross-validation procedures. The 223 most important acoustic cues explained 89% and 87% of the variance in the perceived level of femininity and masculinity in the evaluation set, respectively. The median fo was confirmed to provide the primary cue, but other acoustic properties must be considered in accurate models of femininity and masculinity perception. The developed models are proposed to afford communication and evaluation of gender-affirming voice training goals and improve voice synthesis efforts

Exploring motives and perceived barriers for voice modification : the views of transgender and gender-diverse voice clients

Purpose: To date, transgender and gender-diverse voice clients' perceptions and individual goals have been missing in discussions and research on gender-affirming voice therapy. Little is, therefore, known about the client's expectations of therapy outcomes and how these are met by treatments developed from views of vocal gender as perceived by cisgender persons. This study aimed to explore clients' individual motives and perceived barriers to undertaking gender-affirming voice therapy. Method: Individual, semistructured interviews with 15 transgender and gender-diverse voice clients considering voice therapy were conducted and explored using qualitative content analysis. Results: Three themes were identified during the analysis of the participants' narratives. In the first theme, “the incongruent voice setting the rules,” the contribution of the voice on the experienced gender dysphoria is put in focus. The second theme, “to reach a voice of my own choice,” centers around anticipated personal gains using a modified voice. The third theme, “a voice out of reach,” relates to worries and restricting factors for not being able to reach one's set goals for voice modification. Conclusions: The interviews clearly indicate a need for a person-centered voice therapy that starts from the individuals' expressed motives for modifying the voice yet also are affirmative of anticipated difficulties related to voice modification. We recommend that these themes should form the basis of the pretherapy joint discussion between the voice client and the speech-language pathologist to ensure therapy goals that are realistic and relevant to the client

Resonance tube phonation in water – the effect of tube diameter and water depth on back pressure and bubble characteristics at different airflows

Objectives: Resonance tube phonation with tube end in water is a voice therapy method in which the patient phonates through a glass tube, keeping the free end of the tube submerged in water, creating bubbles. The purpose of this experimental study was to determine flow-pressure relationship, flow thresholds between bubble types, and bubble frequency as a function of flow and back volume. Methods: A flow-driven vocal tract simulator was used for recording the back pressure produced by resonance tubes with inner diameters of 8 and 9 mm submerged at water depths of 0–7 cm. Visual inspection of bubble types through video recording was also performed. Results: The static back pressure was largely determined by the water depth. The narrower tube provided a slightly higher back pressure for a given flow and depth. The amplitude of the pressure oscillations increased with flow and depth. Depending on flow, the bubbles were emitted from the tube in three distinct types with increasing flow: one by one, pairwise, and in a chaotic manner. The bubble frequency was slightly higher for the narrower tube. An increase in back volume led to a decrease in bubble frequency. Conclusions: This study provides data on the physical properties of resonance tube phonation with the tube end in water. This information will be useful in future research when looking into the possible effects of this type of voice training

Kommunikations- och sväljstörningar genom hela livet : ett logopediskt ståndpunktsdokument

Den forskning som bedrivs inom logopedi i Sverige idag spänner över ett brett spektrum av medfödda, utvecklingsrelaterade och förvärvade kommunikationsstörningar på grund av röst-, tal- och språksvårigheter samt sväljstörningar. Precis som i andra länder pågår en snabb utveckling både mot en breddning av det urval av områden som det forskas kring och ett ökat fokus på nationellt samarbete. Även om de framsteg som görs inom respektive fält kan mätas genom de forskningsrapporter som publiceras av respektive forskargrupper, finns det ett behov av att granska vilka forskningsinsatser som bedrivs jämte det demografiska sammanhanget. I detta ståndpunktsdokument ger vi en översikt över logopediämnet och den forskning som bedrivs i Sverige. I en kubmodell illustreras hur kommunikations- och sväljstörningar kan beskrivas. Stratifierade (per åldersintervall) uppskattningar av prevalensen av kommunikations- och sväljstörningar ges baserat på 2016 års befolkningsstruktur. Genom att presentera dessa två komponenter identifieras forskningsområden och riktningar inom logopedi som behöver ges ökad uppmärksamhet i det kommande forskningsarbetet

Kommunikations- och sväljstörningar genom hela livet : ett logopediskt ståndpunktsdokument

Den forskning som bedrivs inom logopedi i Sverige idag spänner över ett brett spektrum av medfödda, utvecklingsrelaterade och förvärvade kommunikationsstörningar på grund av röst-, tal- och språksvårigheter samt sväljstörningar. Precis som i andra länder pågår en snabb utveckling både mot en breddning av det urval av områden som det forskas kring och ett ökat fokus på nationellt samarbete. Även om de framsteg som görs inom respektive fält kan mätas genom de forskningsrapporter som publiceras av respektive forskargrupper, finns det ett behov av att granska vilka forskningsinsatser som bedrivs jämte det demografiska sammanhanget. I detta ståndpunktsdokument ger vi en översikt över logopediämnet och den forskning som bedrivs i Sverige. I en kubmodell illustreras hur kommunikations- och sväljstörningar kan beskrivas. Stratifierade (per åldersintervall) uppskattningar av prevalensen av kommunikations- och sväljstörningar ges baserat på 2016 års befolkningsstruktur. Genom att presentera dessa två komponenter identifieras forskningsområden och riktningar inom logopedi som behöver ges ökad uppmärksamhet i det kommande forskningsarbetet