Permeability of canine vocal fold lamina propria

A Method to Administer Agents to the Larynx in an Awake Large Animal

PURPOSE

This research note describes an adapted experimental methodology to administer an exogenous agent to the larynx and upper airway of awake animals. The exogenous agent could be a perturbation. In the current study, the agent was isotonic saline. Isotonic saline was selected because it is safe, of similar composition to extracellular fluid, and used in voice studies. The described approach allowed large animals such as pigs to be comfortably restrained without chemical sedation or anesthesia for extended periods while receiving the agent.

METHOD

Six Sinclair pigs were successfully trained with positive reinforcement to voluntarily enter and then be restrained in a Panepinto Sling. Once restrained, the pigs accepted a nose cone that delivered nebulized isotonic saline. This procedure was repeated 3 times per day for 20 days. At the end of the study, the larynx and airway tissues were excised and examined using histology and transmission electron microscopy.

RESULTS

Pathology related to the procedure (i.e., nebulized inhaled isotonic saline or stress) was not identified in any examined tissues.

CONCLUSIONS

This methodology allowed for repeated application of exogenous agents to awake, unstressed animals. This method can be used repeatedly in the laboratory to test various therapeutics for safety, toxicity, and dosage. Future studies will specifically manipulate the type of agent to further our understanding of laryngeal pathobiology.

A Computational Study of Vocal Fold Dehydration During Phonation

While vocal fold dehydration is often considered an important factor contributing to vocal fatigue, it still remains unclear whether vocal fold vibration alone is able to induce severe dehydration that has a noticeable effect on phonation and perceived vocal effort. A three-dimensional model was developed to investigate vocal fold systemic dehydration and surface dehydration during phonation. Based on the linear poroelastic theory, the model considered water resupply from blood vessels through the lateral boundary, water movement within the vocal folds, water exchange between the vocal folds and the surface liquid layer through the epithelium, and surface fluid accumulation and discharge to the glottal airway. Parametric studies were conducted to investigate water loss within the vocal folds and from the surface after a 5-min sustained phonation under different permeability and vibration conditions. The results showed that the dehydration generally increased with increasing vibration amplitude, increasing epithelial permeability, and reduced water resupply. With adequate water resupply, a large-amplitude vibration can induce an overall systemic dehydration as high as 3%. The distribution of water loss within the vocal folds was non-uniform, and a local dehydration higher than 5% was observed even under conditions of a low overall systemic dehydration (<1%). Such high level of water loss may severely affect tissue properties, muscular functions, and phonations characteristics. In contrast, water loss of the surface liquid layer was generally an order of magnitude higher than water loss inside the vocal folds, indicating that the surface dehydration level is likely not a good indicator of the systemic dehydration.