Coordinated electrical pacing of vocal cord abductors in recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis

Electrodes were placed into the posterior cricoarytenoid and diaphragmatic muscles of five tracheostomized dogs. With the use of a sensor that would selectively detect diaphragmatic electromyographic activity, this activity served as a trigger and was amplified and interfaced with a muscle stimulator attached to electrodes placed in the posterior cricoarytenoid muscles. In all animals obvious physiologic synchrony of vocal fold abduction and a reduction of the negative inspiratory intratracheal pressure were observed during electrical pacing. This represents a preliminary step in the development of an alternative approach to the patient with bilateral recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis.