EFFECT OF THE PUSHING TECHNIQUE WITH HEAD TURNED ON VIDEOKYMOGRAPHY PARAMETERS IN VOCALLY HEALTHY YOUNG ADULTS

Abstract

Introduction: Knowing the effect of vocal techniques on laryngeal morphophysiology is important for the effective treatment of patients with vocal disorders, as it helps in decision making regarding the therapeutic strategies to be selected. The effort technique, also known as the pushing technique, has an important clinical indication in cases of vocal fold paralysis, and can be performed with the head rectified or with the head turned to the side. However, there is a lack of studies showing the effects of the pushing technique with lateralized head on the vibration characteristics of the vocal folds, even in vocally healthy people. Objective: To verify the effect of the pushing technique with hooked hands and head lateralized to the left on videokymography parameters, obtained from high-speed videoendoscopy (High Speed Imaging) in vocally healthy young individuals. Method: 10 individuals will participate in the research without vocal complaints and without laryngological alteration, aged between 18 and 40 years, 5 males and 5 females. All will be submitted to high-speed videolaryngoscopy examination. The laryngoscope will be introduced through the oral cavity. The speech task will be the sustained vowel /e/. The exam will be performed during the emission of the vowel with the head turned to the left, without hooked hands (without effort) and later, with hooked hands (with effort). In this way, two acquisitions of images of each participant will be carried out. The analysis of vocal fold vibration characteristics will be performed based on high-speed videokymography images. 10 consecutive glottic cycles will be selected. For this purpose, the programming language C Sharp will be used, which will extract, in milliseconds, the parameters of the closed phase (FF), the open phase (FA), the closing phase (Ff) and the opening phase (Fa) of the glottic cycles. In addition to these parameters, the Opening Ratio (AR) will also be analyzed, which will measure the amplitude of the right vocal fold in relation to the left vocal fold during the glottic cycle. Independent variable: pushing technique with head lateralized to the left. Dependent variables: videokymography parameters. Method of Analyzing the results: Mean values of the high-speed videokymography parameters will be obtained with the head lateralized to the left, with and without effort technique, in this case, with hooked hands.