Phonatory experiments and computational analysis of human larynges using ex vivo models*

In this study, we will introduce a combined experimental and numerical platform that combines phonatory experiments, micro-CT scans, high-speed photography, and high-fidelity flow simulations of human larynges using ex vivo models at different age groups. In particular, anatomically accurate larynx model was reconstructed from ex vivo micro-CT scans and the motion of vocal cords was measured using a high-speed video camera. A skeleton-based surface reconstruction method is then used to compare the vocal cord kinematics of two different models producing audible sound at the same flow rates. Furthermore, a sharp-interface immersed-boundary-method (IBM) incompressible flow solver was employed to simulate the corresponding unsteady flows in all their complexity. Analysis has been performed on vortex dynamics and pressure oscillation at various points of interest. The results have shown that the established platform allows accurate functional, kinematical, and aerodynamical measures for better understanding flow physics associated with the phonation of young and aged human larynges.