Thomas has had a total laryngectomy, which means that his voice box was surgically removed. He now speaks with a small silicone device - a voice prosthesis - that is placed in between the trachea and the esophagus.

About voice prostheses

A voice prosthesis is a one-way valve that allows exhaled air to pass from the windpipe (trachea) into the food pipe (esophagus). To speak, you simply exhale while occluding the tracheostoma and the air from the lungs will be pushed through the voice prosthesis into the throat where voice sound is produced. The one-way valve stays closed during swallowing to prevent food and liquids from entering the lungs.

Voice prostheses have been used many years and are today considered to provide the best voice quality, compared to other voice rehabilitation methods after total laryngectomy. Speaking with a voice prosthesis is also relatively easy to learn.

The Provox voice prostheses are known to be reliable and safe, and to require low effort to speak.

The tracheostoma

After laryngectomy you breathe through a hole in the neck (a tracheostoma) instead of your nose and mouth. In order to heat and moisturize the air you inhale, which breathing through the nose previously ensured, a small device is placed in front of the tracheostoma. The device Thomas Müller is wearing in the video is called a Heat and Moisture Exchanger (HME), and this particular HME is called Provox FreeHands HME which allows him to speak without having close the tracheostoma with his finger.

Using a voice prosthesis, you need one hand to occlude the tracheostoma during speech so that air from the lungs can be directed through the voice prosthesis into the esophagus. The Provox assortment also features hands-free devices for users that want to speak without using one hand to occlude the stoma. Using a voice prosthesis requires daily maintenance by the user in order for the prosthesis to stay operative, and a wide range of cleaning accessories is available.