Methods for Objective Assessment of High-Speed Videoendoscopy

The presented material is part of a bigger ongoing project at University of South Carolina studying the Clinical Utility of High-Speed Videoendoscopy (HSV) for Evaluation of Laryngeal Pathology. The overall goal of the project is to assess the potential of HSV to transition from a powerful research tool into a comprehensive clinical method. For several decades HSV has been regarded as the ultimate voice evaluation technique but the technology was not available. Nowadays the HSV technology is accessible, however no established clinical evaluation protocols, proven effective measurement techniques, or validity and reliability data are available. The main focus of this paper is on the methods for objective voice assessment of highspeed video examinations of subjects with normal and pathological laryngeal function. These methods are designed to deliver to the clinician the essential quantitative information of HSV in an effective way without compromising its subjective and intuitive components. Methods range from new visual representations to quantitative assessment parameters that uniquely describe voice characteristics contained in HSV.