# Electrolarynx

An electrolarynx, sometimes referred to as a "throat back", is a medical device used to produce clearer speech by those people who have lost their voice box, usually due to cancer of the larynx. The most common device is a handheld, battery-operated device pressed against the skin under the mandible which produces vibrations to allow speech; other variations include a device similar to the "talk box" electronic music device, which delivers the basis of the speech sound via a tube placed in the mouth. Earlier non-electric devices were called mechanical larynxes. Along with developing esophageal voice, using a speech synthesizer, or undergoing a surgical procedure, the electrolarynx serves as a mode of speech recovery for laryngectomy patients.
The Voice Quality Symbol for electrolaryngeal phonation in speech is И, approximating the symbol for electricity.

## Overview

Initially, the pneumatic mechanical larynx was developed in the 1920s by Western Electric. It did not run on electricity, and was flawed in that it produced a strong voice. However, more recent mechanical larynxes have demonstrated similar voice production to commercially available electrolarynxes. Electrolarynxes were introduced in the 1940s, at a time when esophageal speech was being promoted as the best course in speech recovery; however, since that technique is difficult to master, the electrolarynx became quite popular. Since then, medical procedures, such as the tracheo-oesophageal puncture, and the rarely performed laryngeal transplantation surgery, have been created to enable speech without continued dependence on a handheld device.
The use of an electrolarynx can cause social issues, for instance difficulty ordering food, drinks, or other items in noisy environments; or, when answering a telephone, having the caller respond, "Am I talking to a computer?"
However, quality-of-life improvements due to electrolarynx usage are generally significant. One user states:
   People are really very kind once they realize what the situation is. I may go into a restaurant once, and if I go back there a year later, and it's the same woman at the front desk, she'll say, "Where have you been? We haven't seen you for a while." So, I feel like a movie star... I'm really very blessed in my life. I am happier now, without my voice, than I've ever been with my voice. It's a small price to pay for being alive and enjoying life. So I am very happy where I am now.
Traditional electrolarynxes produce a monotone buzz that the user articulates into speech sounds, resulting in the characteristic "robotlike" voice quality. However, in the 1990s, research and commercial multi-tone devices began to be developed, including discrete-tone devices using multiple-position switches or multiple buttons; as well as variable-tone devices controlled by single pressure-sensitive buttons, trackballs, gyroscopes, touchpad-like input devices, or even electrical detection of the movement of neck muscles. In addition to allowing speakers of non-tonal languages such as English to have a more natural speaking voice, some of these newer devices have allowed speakers of tonal languages such as Mandarin Chinese to speak more intelligibly.

## Notable fictional users

Fictional characters notable for their use of an electrolarynx include:
* Agents of "Leviathan" on Agent Carter
* Alfredo in The Hand of God
* Alpha 60 from Alphaville
* Anne Sawyer in Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III.
* Charlie in Mad Max
* Electrolarynx Guy (Jack Axelrod) on My Name Is Earl
* Emilio Sanchez, one of the residents of the Lawrence Hilton Jacobs housing project on The PJs
* Evil Troy from Community (TV series)
* Glory Dodge in North Country
* Gray Baker in Dead Again
* Heathrow, Madea's brother in Tyler Perry's A Madea Family Funeral
* An Indigenous peoples of the Americas in Santa's Slay.
* The Killer from Night Terror (Film)
* Komtuan, the crime lord from the film Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior, notable as a speaker of a tonal language being understood despite using a traditional monotone electrolarynx
* Krishnadas in Abraham Ozhler (Malayalam Movie)
* Nassara in Dry Season
* Ned Gerblanski from South Park
* Sani Crow in Banshee
* Sawyer the Cleaner from Black Lagoon
* Sheriff Jerry/Angela Baker in Return to Sleepaway Camp
* Smokie Martling, a parody of Jackie Martling from The Howard Stern Show
* The Smoking Family from Chewin' The Fat
* Stemroach (David Bradley) on Ideal
* A victim survivor in Cell (film).
* WWE wrestler Kane, for his first three years in the company (1997–1999)
* Walter Wingfield in Say It Isn't So
* Zimos from Saints Row The Third