Phonation differentiation by non-contact laryngeal magnetomyography

Abstract Phonation is important for our daily communication and requires the activation of internal and external laryngeal muscles, which can be recorded by electromyography (EMG) using surface or needle electrodes. Here we present a new noncontact method, laryngeal magnetomyography. As a proof-of-c...

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Main Authors: Justus Marquetand, Nima Noury, Hongyu Lu, Haodi Yang, Chrystina Montuori Sorrentino, Lukas Rüttiger, Marlies Knipper, Christoph Braun, Hubert Löwenheim, Johannes von Fraunberg, Anke Tropitzsch, Markus Siegel, Stephan Wolpert
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Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-05-01
Series:Scientific Reports
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-02956-2
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author Justus Marquetand
Nima Noury
Hongyu Lu
Haodi Yang
Chrystina Montuori Sorrentino
Lukas Rüttiger
Marlies Knipper
Christoph Braun
Hubert Löwenheim
Johannes von Fraunberg
Anke Tropitzsch
Markus Siegel
Stephan Wolpert
author_facet Justus Marquetand
Nima Noury
Hongyu Lu
Haodi Yang
Chrystina Montuori Sorrentino
Lukas Rüttiger
Marlies Knipper
Christoph Braun
Hubert Löwenheim
Johannes von Fraunberg
Anke Tropitzsch
Markus Siegel
Stephan Wolpert
author_sort Justus Marquetand
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Phonation is important for our daily communication and requires the activation of internal and external laryngeal muscles, which can be recorded by electromyography (EMG) using surface or needle electrodes. Here we present a new noncontact method, laryngeal magnetomyography. As a proof-of-concept, we investigated the feasibility of differentiating various vocalization conditions using laryngeal MMG in two healthy subjects using optically pumped magnetometers (OPM). We recorded magnetic muscle activity of the larynx and neighboring cervical muscles using a 3 × 5 array of OPMs. Subjects vocalized an /a/ in three different conditions: loud high pitch, loud low pitch, and soft high pitch, in 90 s blocks. After removing cardiac artifacts, MMG signals were in the range of 1.5 pT with significant amplitude differences between conditions. In both subjects, Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) was able to significantly classify vocalization conditions based on the spatial pattern of MMG activities. In sum, we show that laryngeal MMG allows contactless differentiation of phonations based on myomagnetic signals. Our results set the stage for future studies to explore this method for clinical diagnostics and therapy. Functional, contactless muscle recordings during vocalization enable new applications for miniaturized quantum sensors, e.g. in linguistic studies and speech rehabilitation.
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spelling doaj-art-f945bfc65eac45929710dfabf11ee36f2025-08-20T03:16:32ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-05-011511910.1038/s41598-025-02956-2Phonation differentiation by non-contact laryngeal magnetomyographyJustus Marquetand0Nima Noury1Hongyu Lu2Haodi Yang3Chrystina Montuori Sorrentino4Lukas Rüttiger5Marlies Knipper6Christoph Braun7Hubert Löwenheim8Johannes von Fraunberg9Anke Tropitzsch10Markus Siegel11Stephan Wolpert12Department of Neural Dynamics and Magnetoencephalography, Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of TübingenDepartment of Neural Dynamics and Magnetoencephalography, Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of TübingenDepartment of Neural Dynamics and Magnetoencephalography, Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of TübingenDepartment of Neural Dynamics and Magnetoencephalography, Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of TübingenDepartment of Neural Dynamics and Magnetoencephalography, Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of TübingenDepartment of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of TübingenDepartment of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of TübingenDepartment of Neural Dynamics and Magnetoencephalography, Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of TübingenDepartment of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of TübingenDepartment of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of TübingenDepartment of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of TübingenDepartment of Neural Dynamics and Magnetoencephalography, Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of TübingenDepartment of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of TübingenAbstract Phonation is important for our daily communication and requires the activation of internal and external laryngeal muscles, which can be recorded by electromyography (EMG) using surface or needle electrodes. Here we present a new noncontact method, laryngeal magnetomyography. As a proof-of-concept, we investigated the feasibility of differentiating various vocalization conditions using laryngeal MMG in two healthy subjects using optically pumped magnetometers (OPM). We recorded magnetic muscle activity of the larynx and neighboring cervical muscles using a 3 × 5 array of OPMs. Subjects vocalized an /a/ in three different conditions: loud high pitch, loud low pitch, and soft high pitch, in 90 s blocks. After removing cardiac artifacts, MMG signals were in the range of 1.5 pT with significant amplitude differences between conditions. In both subjects, Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) was able to significantly classify vocalization conditions based on the spatial pattern of MMG activities. In sum, we show that laryngeal MMG allows contactless differentiation of phonations based on myomagnetic signals. Our results set the stage for future studies to explore this method for clinical diagnostics and therapy. Functional, contactless muscle recordings during vocalization enable new applications for miniaturized quantum sensors, e.g. in linguistic studies and speech rehabilitation.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-02956-2LarynxVoiceQuantum sensorNeurophysiologySingerSpeech
spellingShingle Justus Marquetand
Nima Noury
Hongyu Lu
Haodi Yang
Chrystina Montuori Sorrentino
Lukas Rüttiger
Marlies Knipper
Christoph Braun
Hubert Löwenheim
Johannes von Fraunberg
Anke Tropitzsch
Markus Siegel
Stephan Wolpert
Phonation differentiation by non-contact laryngeal magnetomyography
Scientific Reports
Larynx
Voice
Quantum sensor
Neurophysiology
Singer
Speech
title Phonation differentiation by non-contact laryngeal magnetomyography
title_full Phonation differentiation by non-contact laryngeal magnetomyography
title_fullStr Phonation differentiation by non-contact laryngeal magnetomyography
title_full_unstemmed Phonation differentiation by non-contact laryngeal magnetomyography
title_short Phonation differentiation by non-contact laryngeal magnetomyography
title_sort phonation differentiation by non contact laryngeal magnetomyography
topic Larynx
Voice
Quantum sensor
Neurophysiology
Singer
Speech
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-02956-2
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