A computational study of the effect of vocal-fold asymmetry on phonation

Unilateral laryngeal paralysis leads to tension imbalance and hence to asynchronous movements between the two vocal folds during phonation. In the current study, a computational model of phonation that couples a two-mass model of the vocal folds with a Navier-Stokes model of the glottal airflow, has been used to examine the dynamics of vocal fold configurations with tension imbalance and its implications for phonation. The simulations show that tension imbalance influences phonation onset, intensity as well as the fundamental phonation frequency. Distinct non-linear effects such as period-doubling bifurcation and preferential frequency selection are also observed.