SPECTROGRAPHIC DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TRACHEAL-ESOPHAGEAL AND ESOPHAGEALVOICE

In order to evaluate the results of voice and speech rehabilitation af ter total laryngectomy some acoustic parameters (fundamental frequency , waveform perturbation) were examined in 18 total laryngectomy patien ts. Eight of these subjects had previously been surgically rehabilitat ed with a tracheal-esophageal phonatory valve while 10 had been submit ted to esophageal speech rehabilitation. Analysis of results has shown that tracheal-esophageal voices are more likely to provide a stable f undamental frequency; there is also a tendency toward more clearly def ined harmonics; jitter and shimmer are more similar to the values of n ormal subjects compared with those observed in esophageal speech. Such results seem to depend on a more regular vibration pattern in the pha ryngeal-esophageal segment, due to the more efficient expiratory flow in tracheal-esophageal speech. Moreover we were able to demonstrate a correlation between the objective parameters evaluated and the subject ive score on speech acceptability.