RESEARCH
Unlocking the Mysteries of Science
The Laryngeal Imaging Laboratory (LIL) resides within the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (COMD) at Louisiana State University (LSU), Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Our research mission is to further the assessment and treatment techniques of voice and swallowing disorders in clinical practice. To achieve our mission, we have formed a multidisciplinary research team consist of experts within and outside the discipline of Communication Sciences and Disorders. Our research team includes local and international collaborators, including researchers.
PREVENTION AND REHABILITATION OF SWALLOWING DISORDERSÂ IN HEAD AND NECK CANCER POPULATION
Our second major are of research focus is in working to help head and neck cancer patients achieve a better quality of life by maintaining and restoring an oral diet following treatment of their cancer. Patients undergoing surgery and/or radiation with/without chemotherapy frequently develop significant difficulties in swallowing that are sometimes irreversible. Our goal is to determine the most effective behavioral swallowing exercises-their timing, types, dosage, and duration- to offset the negative side effects of their cancer treatment on the swallowing organs and their function. Approaching the problem from another direction that we have identified through our study, we have recently begun work to improve tolerance of oral supplements. This work in progress with a multidisciplinary team of collaborators (a food scientist and nutritionist, ENT and radiologist) is working to develop products (food supplements) to address the changes in taste, texture and saliva that typically further limit oral intake and enable this patient population to continue to eat while they are undergoing chemoradiation.
LARYNGEAL HIGH-SPEED VIDEOENDOSCOPY
Our research employs a clinical high–speed videoendoscopy (HSV) technology to aid in the assessment of true vocal fold vibratory function. It has shown great potential in the development of new voice parameters and their quantification.  There remains a wide open field of investigation in understanding endoscopic vocal fold vibratory measures and their relationship to the perceived voice quality and vocal function. Current endoscopic measures are based on the vidoeostroboscpy imaging technique which is good for normal voices but very limited in investigation of disordered voices. HSV imaging techniques address these limitations with its significantly improved temporal and spatial resolutions by allowing observation and quantification of irregular and disordered vocal fold vibratory patterns. Our lab is very interested in enhancing the current clinical knowledge and practice by the investigation and treatment of vocal dysfunction in healthy and disease processes at the vocal fold level.
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