Klaske van Sluis

CHAPTER 5 Long-term stability of tracheoesophageal voices Abstract Long-term voice outcomes of 13 tracheoesophageal speakers are assessed using speech samples that were recorded with at least 7 years in between. Intelligi- bility and voice quality are perceptually evaluated by 10 experienced speech and language pathologists. In addition, automatic speech evaluations are per- formed with tools from Ghent University. No significant group effect was found for changes in voice quality and intelligibility. The recordings showed a wide interspeaker variability. It is concluded that intelligibility and voice quality of tracheoesophageal voice is mostly stable over a period of 7 to 18 years. 5.1 Introduction Total laryngectomy (TL) refers to removal of the entire larynx as a treatment for advanced stage laryngeal cancer [1]. During the surgical procedure the air- way and digestive tract are separated. With removal of the larynx the natural voice is lost. Voice rehabilitation is one of the most important goals after to- tal laryngectomy [2]. In the early 1980s, insertion of a tracheoesophageal voice prosthesis was introduced [3]. A voice prosthesis is a one-way valve that is in- serted in a puncture tract created between the trachea and esophagus. Airflow 0 Appeared as: van Sluis, K.E., van den Brekel, M.W.M., Hilgers, F.J.M., van Son, R.J.J.H. “Long-term stability of tracheoesophageal voices.” Proceedings of Interspeech 2016, San Fran- cisco : 102-106, 2016.