Abstract
INTRODUCTION : The prerequisites of voice therapy include not only understanding how the patient can phorate and assessing his background well (i.e. problems in his daily life), but also recognizing the patient pathological condition and his state of recovery during therapy. These are considered requirements for effective voice therapy.
SUBJECT : We found good results using visual feedback to promote voice therapy. The patients were two males out of 229 cases who had visited our outpatient voice disorders clinic at the National Defense Medical College Hospital. The period of this study was between May of 1997 and October of 1998. The two patients were selected because they had suffered from voice disorders mainly due to ventricular dysphonia.
METHOD : Each patient was asked to phorate according to the instruction of voice therapist while he was shown his own laryngeal image on a VTR monitor from a flexible fiberscope inserted through his nose. Clinical and voice therapist could simultaneously recognize how the patient is phonating on another TV monitor.
CONCLUSION : Our method is considered to be useful in assisting voice therapy in terms of the following : It is possible to provide visual feedback of improvement to the patient himself; no special device is needed if we have a VTR monitor system and a flexible fiberscope.
