Study of the thermal distribution in vocal cords irradiated by an optical source for the treatment of voice disabilities

摘要

Vocal cords disorders constitute an important problem for people suffering from them. Particularly the reduction of mucosal wave movement is not appropriately treated by conventional therapies, like drugs administration or surgery. In this work, an alternative therapy, consisting in controlled temperature increases by means of optical sources is proposed. The distribution of heat inside vocal cords when an optical source illuminates them is studied. Optical and thermal properties of tissue are discussed, as a basis for the appropriate knowledge of its behaviour. Propagation of light is shown using the Radiation Transfer Theory (RTT) and a numerical Monte Carlo model. A thermal transfer model, that uses the results of the propagation of radiation, determines the distribution of temperature in the tissue. Two widely used lasers are considered, Nd:YAG (1064 nm) and KTP (532 nm). Adequate amounts of radiation, resulting in temperature rise, must be achieved in order to avoid damage in vocal cords and so to assure an improvement in the vocal functions of the patient. The limits in temperature should be considered with a combined temperature-time and Arrhenius analysis.