Design and Experimentation of Surgical Devices for Voice Restoration

CHNG CHIN BOON

Publication

Design and Experimentation of Surgical Devices for Voice Restoration

CHNG CHIN BOON

Abstract

Being able to speak is an ability that allows us to verbally communicate our thoughts and ideas. The total loss of such ability has enormous psychosocial and economic consequences and it is of particular interest to lessen this disruption of the patient?s lives. Two common procedures in the head and neck surgery for voice restoration are voice microsurgery and implantation of a voice prosthesis for patients after total laryngectomy. While current methods for both procedures are well established, they can still be optimized further. This thesis thus details of the development and experimental evaluation of devices to aid respectively in the two surgical procedures ? 1) bio-absorbable micro-clips to aid in wound closure and 2) a tracheoesophageal puncture and voice prosthesis insertion device. Both devices have been tested in-vivo and results show their potential in improving healing and their time savings translate into cost reductions for patients.