Automation of the measurement of laryngeal vibration patterns from high speed film

A progress report is presented on the development of procedures to process laryngeal high speed films to extract the glottal waveform and other glottal parameters. The glottal waveforms derived by this direct method are being used to determine if the pathologic larynx is manifested in its abnormal vibratory pattern. The glottal waveforms measured by sonic-sensing pen tracing, cursor outlining, a photocell technique, and TV camera scanning are presented and compared with the conventional polar planimeter method. To date the TV camera method is the most rapid procedure and can process approximately 400 frames per hour in a semi-automatic mode. This method determines the glottal area, length, and width by a combination of analog/digital circuitry and minicomputer processing.