Quantitative Study of the Effects of Dehydration on the Viscoelastic Parameters in the Vocal Fold Mucosa

Abstract

Objectives: The goal of this study was to quantify the viscoelastic parameters of the vocal fold mucosa at varying dehydration levels.

Study design and methods: Healthy canine larynges were obtained postmortem, and the samples were separated from the subglottal wall. The samples were dehydrated in a vacuum dryer. According to the total dehydration time per sample, dehydration levels were divided into four degrees: 0%, 40%, 60%, and 80%. The stepper was set to stretch the sample to a level of 35% strain at the same rate (0.5 mm/s). Data collection was repeated five times under each dehydration condition. The compression resilience, RC% = S'/S*100%, and the hysteresis area were measured according to the stress-strain curves. The varying properties of the samples under different dehydration levels were investigated by fitting the curves.

Results: The area of the hysteresis loops observed in the stress-strain curves increased exponentially with dehydration levels, whereas the RC% decreased linearly. For all curves, low-strain stages can be explained by Hooke's law (σ = E₀*ε). With increasing levels of dehydration, E₀ was shown to increase, whereas the linear range was shortened. High-strain stages resembled exponential rather than the linear curves. And the nonlinear stage of the curve became increasingly apparent in the stress-strain curves of increased dehydration levels.

Conclusions: The quantitative results in this study not only provide a numerical reference for future experimental measurements, but also can be used to verify the biphasic model in future studies.

Keywords: dehydration levels; mucosa; quantify; viscoelastic parameters; vocal fold.