Computer based quantification of normal and pathological vocal folds phonatory processes from laryngovideostroboscopy

Medical imaging techniques offer novel visualization and analysis methods of the vocal folds during phonation and automatic computation of indices aiding the phoniatrist in a more precise diagnosis of voice disorders. The aim of this study is to apply computer vision algorithms for qualitative and quantitative analysis of vocal folds´ vibrations. Videostroboscopic examinations of the larynx were carried out for 30 patients. Image pre-processing and image segmentation algorithms were applied to compute the glottis area during phonation. The glottovibrograms which are spatio-temporal visualizations of the vibrating vocal folds were also built. The proposed indices allow for a quantitative and comparative analysis of normal and disordered phonatory processes. The conducted pilot study has confirmed the validity of the computer aided imaging methods for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the videostroboscopic images of the phonatory motions of the vocal folds.