Improved imaging of lingual articulation using real-time multislice MRI.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

To develop a real-time imaging technique that allows for simultaneous visualization of vocal tract shaping in multiple scan planes, and provides dynamic visualization of complex articulatory features.

Materials and methods

Simultaneous imaging of multiple slices was implemented using a custom real-time imaging platform. Midsagittal, coronal, and axial scan planes of the human upper airway were prescribed and imaged in real-time using a fast spiral gradient-echo pulse sequence. Two native speakers of English produced voiceless and voiced fricatives /f/-/v/, /θ/-/ð/, /s/-/z/, /∫/- in symmetrical maximally contrastive vocalic contexts /a_a/, /i_i/, and /u_u/. Vocal tract videos were synchronized with noise-cancelled audio recordings, facilitating the selection of frames

SUBMITTER: Kim YC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3310329 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature