Human Sensorimotor Control Laboratory continues work on Spasmodic Dysphonia Treatment

Over the past five years the School of Kinesiology’s Human Sensorimotor Control Laboratory (HSCL) has investigated the use of laryngeal vibration as a non-invasive method to treat speech symptoms associated with the voice disorder spasmodic dysphonia (SD). The HSCL team has established the short-term effectiveness of the approach, with about two-thirds of SD patients responding to the treatment.

The lab is currently conducting a clinical trial funded through the National Institute of Deafness and Communication Disorders to examine the effects of applying laryngeal stimulation on patients over a period of 11 weeks. In addition, lab members Arash Mahnan and Jessica Holst-Wolf recently completed a National Science Foundation Innovation Corps program. As part of this program, they visited patient groups, physicians, speech therapists, health care providers and medical device manufacturers throughout the United States to inquire about their needs to move forward the translation of this technology towards possible commercialization. Dr. Jürgen Konczak is the principal investigator of this federally funded research.

Here’s a video update about the process they’ve made thus far: