三维超声显示舌部手术之后对说话的影响

根据科学家的说法，对术前和术后舌头外形和体积的研究有助于外科医生制定计划，将由于癌症导致的舌头缺陷的重建达到最佳效果。

加拿大Toronto大学的外科医生是最早使用三维超声评估正常以及部分切除舌头后对说话影响的研究人员。通过对10位正常受试者正常发音时候舌头表面三维形状进行评估，研究人员描绘出舌头正常工作时候的基本过程。这些超声资料做为那些部分切除舌头患者进行比较的基础。这项研究获得了加拿大健康研究院的资金资助，发表在2005年1月-2月期的《临床语言和语音学期刊》。

Toronto大学语言病理学科教授Tim Bressmann博士说：“我们利用正常说话者的数据来制作"Joe Canadian"舌头模型。这是迈向评估不同重建技术对说话时候舌头运动的生物机械影响的第一步。现在我们努力确定对不同的病变部位以及程度而言什么是理想的重建方法，这样我们就可以确保每一位患者的最佳说话效果。”

这些研究人员正在从更多的舌癌患者收集超声资料，为进行部分舌切除手术的外科医生建立数据库。Bressmann医生说：“舌癌生存率在70％～80％之间。因此，外科医生需要完成一项完美的工作，因为接受重建手术的患者通常会生存很长很长时间。”
 
3D Ultrasound Shows Speech Effects After Tongue Surgery
 
New research regarding tongue shape and volume before and after surgery should help surgeons plan how best to reconstruct defects of the tongue resulting from cancer, according to scientists.

Surgeons at the University of Toronto (Canada) are the first investigators to use three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound to evaluate both normal and partially resected tongues during speech. By assessing the 3D topography of the tongue’s surface as each of 10 normal speakers made a host of sounds, the researchers were able to describe the basic processes underlying the normal workings of a tongue. This ultrasound data became the baseline to which partially resected tongues were compared. The study, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, was published in the January-February 2005 issue of the journal Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics.

“We used the data from the normal speakers to model a prototypical ‘Joe Canadian’ tongue,” reported Dr. Tim Bressmann, a professor in the department of speech-language pathology at the University of Toronto. “This is a first step toward assessing the biomechanical impact of different reconstructive techniques on tongue movement for speech. Now, we can work toward determining what the ideal method of reconstruction is for different lesion locations and extents, so that we can ensure optimum speech outcomes for every patient.”

The investigators are now gathering ultrasound findings from more tongue cancer patients to device a database for surgeons who perform partial tongue resection surgeries. “The survival rate in tongue cancer is 70 to 80%,” stated Dr. Bressmann. “Therefore, surgeons need to do a very good job because people will often live with their reconstructions for a long, long time.”