3D dynamic MRI of the vocal tract during natural speech

• Published in: Magnetic resonance in medicine Vol. 81; no. 3; pp. 1511 - 1520
• Main Authors: Lim, Yongwan, Zhu, Yinghua, Lingala, Sajan Goud, Byrd, Dani, Narayanan, Shrikanth, Nayak, Krishna Shrinivas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.03.2019
• Subjects: Adult; Consonants (speech); dynamic MRI; dynamic speech imaging; Female; Finite difference method; golden‐angle stack‐of‐spirals; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Image reconstruction; Imaging, Three-Dimensional - methods; In vivo methods and tests; Language; Larynx - diagnostic imaging; lateral production; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Movement; rapid vocal tract shaping; Reproducibility of Results; Respiratory tract; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; Spatial discrimination; Spatial resolution; Speech; Speech - physiology; speech articulation; Speech Production Measurement - methods; Spirals; Syllables; Temporal resolution; Tongue; Vocal tract; Vowels; golden-angle stack-of-spirals; rapid vocal tract shaping; lateral production; dynamic speech imaging; speech articulation; dynamic MRI
• ISSN: 0740-3194; 1522-2594; 1522-2594
• DOI: 10.1002/mrm.27570

Purpose To develop and evaluate a technique for 3D dynamic MRI of the full vocal tract at high temporal resolution during natural speech. Methods We demonstrate 2.4 × 2.4 × 5.8 mm3 spatial resolution, 61‐ms temporal resolution, and a 200 × 200 × 70 mm3 FOV. The proposed method uses 3D gradient‐echo imaging with a custom upper‐airway coil, a minimum‐phase slab excitation, stack‐of‐spirals readout, pseudo golden‐angle view order in kx‐ky, linear Cartesian order along kz, and spatiotemporal finite difference constrained reconstruction, with 13‐fold acceleration. This technique is evaluated using in vivo vocal tract airway data from 2 healthy subjects acquired at 1.5T scanner, 1 with synchronized audio, with 2 tasks during production of natural speech, and via comparison with interleaved multislice 2D dynamic MRI. Results This technique captured known dynamics of vocal tract articulators during natural speech tasks including tongue gestures during the production of consonants “s” and “l” and of consonant–vowel syllables, and was additionally consistent with 2D dynamic MRI. Coordination of lingual (tongue) movements for consonants is demonstrated via volume‐of‐interest analysis. Vocal tract area function dynamics revealed critical lingual constriction events along the length of the vocal tract for consonants and vowels. Conclusion We demonstrate feasibility of 3D dynamic MRI of the full vocal tract, with spatiotemporal resolution adequate to visualize lingual movements for consonants and vocal tact shaping during natural productions of consonant–vowel syllables, without requiring multiple repetitions.