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Mechanical larynx

 
Mechanical Larynx

 
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Mechanical larynx
 
 
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A mechanical larynx is a medical device used to produce clearer speech by those who have lost their original voicebox
Larynx

The larynx , colloquially known as the voicebox, is an organ in the neck of mammals involved in protection of the vertebrate trachea and sound production....
, usually due to cancer of the larynx
Cancer of the larynx

Laryngeal cancer may also be called cancer of the larynx or laryngeal carcinoma. Most laryngeal cancers are squamous cell carcinomas, reflecting their origin from the squamous cells which form the majority of the laryngeal epithelium....
. It is also referred to as a 'throat back'. The most common device is the electrolarynx which is handheld, battery operated and placed under the mandible
Mandible

The mandible or inferior maxillary bone forms the lower jaw and holds the lower tooth in place. It also refers to both the upper and lower sections of the beaks of birds....
 producing vibration to allow speech. Along with developing esophageal voice or undergoing a surgical procedure, the mechanical larynx serves as a mode of speech recovery for postlaryngectomy
Laryngectomy

Laryngectomy is the removal of the larynx and separation of the airway from the mouth, nose, and esophagus. The laryngectomee breathes through an opening in the neck, a stoma ....
 patients.

Initially, the pneumatic mechanical larynx was developed in the 1920s by Western Electric
Western Electric

Western Electric Company was an United States electrical engineering company, the manufacturing arm of American Telephone & Telegraph from 1881 to 1995....
, which did not run on electricity
Electricity

Electricity is a general term that encompasses a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena such as lightning and static electricity, but in addition, less familiar concepts such as the electromagnetic field and electromagnetic induction....
, and was flawed in that it produced a weak voice.






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Encyclopedia


A mechanical larynx is a medical device used to produce clearer speech by those who have lost their original voicebox
Larynx

The larynx , colloquially known as the voicebox, is an organ in the neck of mammals involved in protection of the vertebrate trachea and sound production....
, usually due to cancer of the larynx
Cancer of the larynx

Laryngeal cancer may also be called cancer of the larynx or laryngeal carcinoma. Most laryngeal cancers are squamous cell carcinomas, reflecting their origin from the squamous cells which form the majority of the laryngeal epithelium....
. It is also referred to as a 'throat back'. The most common device is the electrolarynx which is handheld, battery operated and placed under the mandible
Mandible

The mandible or inferior maxillary bone forms the lower jaw and holds the lower tooth in place. It also refers to both the upper and lower sections of the beaks of birds....
 producing vibration to allow speech. Along with developing esophageal voice or undergoing a surgical procedure, the mechanical larynx serves as a mode of speech recovery for postlaryngectomy
Laryngectomy

Laryngectomy is the removal of the larynx and separation of the airway from the mouth, nose, and esophagus. The laryngectomee breathes through an opening in the neck, a stoma ....
 patients.

Initially, the pneumatic mechanical larynx was developed in the 1920s by Western Electric
Western Electric

Western Electric Company was an United States electrical engineering company, the manufacturing arm of American Telephone & Telegraph from 1881 to 1995....
, which did not run on electricity
Electricity

Electricity is a general term that encompasses a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena such as lightning and static electricity, but in addition, less familiar concepts such as the electromagnetic field and electromagnetic induction....
, and was flawed in that it produced a weak voice. Electric devices, namely the electrolarynx, were introduced in the 1940s, at a time when esophageal voice was being promoted as the best course in speech recovery; however, since that technique is difficult to master, the electrolarynx became quite popular. Since then, many medical procedures, such as the tracheoesophageal puncture, were created to enable speech without continued dependence on a handheld device.

The mechanical larynx is sometimes mistaken with the ring modulator, speech synthesizer, sonovox
Talk box

A talk box is an effects device that allows a musician to modify the sound of a musical instrument. The musician controls the modification by lip syncing, or by changing the shape of his mouth....
, or the vocoder
Vocoder

A vocoder, , is an analysis / synthesis system, mostly used for speech in which the input is passed through a multiband filter, each filter is passed through an envelope follower, the control signals from the envelope followers are communicated, and the decoder applies these control signals to corresponding filters in the synthesizer....
. Although all four devices can make similar sounding artificial voices, they are all completely different.

Another type of mechanical larynx is called an electropharynx.

Sometime electrolarynx can also be used for other purpose rather than just a mechanical larynx,for example to rule out fetal acidosis in condition of non reactive fetal heart tracing during labor.