Evaluating the Progression of Parkinson’s Disease with Dynamic 4D Laryngeal CT

My thesis studies the voice changes of Parkinson’s disease using computed-tomography (CT) scans of the larynx. I looked at the posturing and movement of the laryngeal cartilages and vocal cords to detect the disease’s presence and severity. I found changes to measurements of vocal cord posturing which progress as Parkinson’s disease advances. Next, I validated a method to automatically perform these laryngeal measurements, compared them to those that I performed, and found them to be accurate. This body of work highlights the potential of laryngeal CT in the assessment of Parkinson’s disease and serves as a foundation for further study.