Sponsor
The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research and/or publication of this article. This study was funded in part by the NIH Common Fund through the Bridge2AI program, award OT2OD032720.
Published In
Frontiers in Digital Health
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-11-2025
Subjects
Voice disorders, Vocal cord lesions
Abstract
Benign and malignant vocal fold lesions can alter voice quality and lead to significant morbidity or, in the case of malignancy, mortality. Early, noninvasive identification of these lesions using voice as a biomarker may improve diagnostic access and outcomes. In this study, we analyzed data from the initial release of the Bridge2AI-Voice dataset to evaluate which acoustic features best distinguish laryngeal cancer and benign vocal fold lesions from other vocal pathologies and healthy voice function. Seven diagnostic cohorts were grouped into two analyses: the first included participants with laryngeal cancer, benign lesions, or no voice disorder; the second included those with laryngeal cancer or benign lesions without other voice disorders, as well as individuals with spasmodic dysphonia or vocal fold paralysis. Acoustic features including fundamental frequency, jitter, shimmer, and harmonic-to-noise ratio (HNR) were extracted from standardized speech recordings and compared using nonparametric statistical methods. Among the overall sample, significant differences were identified in HNR and fundamental frequency between benign lesions and both healthy controls and laryngeal cancer. In cisgender men, these distinctions were also observed, particularly in HNR and its variability. No statistically significant differences were observed among cisgender women, likely due to the limited sample size. These findings suggest that HNR, particularly its variability, may hold promise as a voice-based marker for early detection and monitoring of vocal fold lesions. Further research with larger, more diverse populations is needed to refine these features and validate their clinical utility.
Rights
Copyright (c) 2025 The Authors
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Locate the Document
DOI
10.3389/fdgth.2025.1609811
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/44039
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Citation Details
Jenkins, P., Harrison, R., Bedrick, S., Karstens, L., & Hersh, W. (2025). Voice as a biomarker: exploratory analysis for benign and malignant vocal fold lesions. Frontiers in Digital Health, 7.