Electroglottography and Vocal Fold Physiology

The electroglottogram (EGG) is known to be related to vocal fold motion. A major hypothesis undergoing examination in several research centers is that the EGG is related to the area of contact of the vocal folds. This hypothesis is difficult to substantiate with direct measurements using human subjects. However, other supporting evidence can be offered. For this study we made measurements from synchronized ultra high-speed laryngeal films and from EGG waveforms collected from subjects with normal larynges and patients with vocal disorders. We compare certain features of the EGG waveform to (a) the instant of the opening of the glottis, (b) the instant of the closing of the glottis, and (c) the instant of the maximum opening of the glottis. In addition, we compare both the open quotient and the relative average perturbation measured from the glottal area to that estimated from the EGG. All of these comparisons indicate that vocal fold vibratory characteristics are reflected by features of the EGG waveform. This makes the EGG useful for speech analysis and synthesis as well as for modeling laryngeal behavior. The limitations of the EGG are discussed.