Development of a portable non-invasive swallowing and respiration assessment device.

Wann-Yun Shieh,Chia-Shuo Chang,Chin-Man Wang

doi:10.3390/s150612428

Wann-Yun Shieh, Chia-Shuo Chang + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/s150612428

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Abstract

Dysphagia is a condition that happens when a person cannot smoothly swallow food from the mouth to the stomach. It causes malnourishment in patients, or can even cause death due to aspiration pneumonia. Recently, more and more researchers have focused their attention on the importance of swallowing and respiration coordination, and the use of non-invasive assessment systems has become a hot research trend. In this study, we aimed to integrate the timing and pattern monitoring of respiration and swallowing by using a portable and non-invasive approach which can be applied at the bedside in hospitals or institutions, or in a home environment. In this approach, we use a force sensing resistor (FSR) to detect the motions of the thyroid cartilage in the pharyngeal phase. We also use the surface electromyography (sEMG) to detect the contraction of the submental muscle in the oral phase, and a nasal cannula to detect nasal airflow for respiration monitoring during the swallowing process. All signals are received and processed for swallowing event recognition. A total of 19 volunteers participated in the testing and over 57 measurements were made. The results show that the proposed approach can effectively distinguish the swallowing function in people of different ages and genders.

Highlights

The difficulty in swallowing food through the esophagus to the stomach, is a condition known as dysphagia
Instead of using the piezoelectric sensor as in [21,23], in this study we used the proposed force sensing resistor (FSR) throat belt to detect the motions of the thyroid cartilage
The exclusion criteria were any known history of dysphagia, cardiopulmonary disease, neurological disease, hiatal hernia, chronic indigestion disorder, gastroesophageal reflux disease, cancer or disease of the head and neck, current use of medications with known effects on swallowing or breathing, tobacco use in the past

Summary

Introduction

The difficulty in swallowing food through the esophagus to the stomach, is a condition known as dysphagia. Dysphagia can happen at any one of above stages, but the general assessment and therapy for neurogenic dysphagia emphasizes the oral and the pharyngeal stage This is because the entrance of the esophagus is in the close proximity to the larynx and both air and the swallowed bolus will share a common pathway through the pharynx. When the food goes through the pharynx to the esophagus, swallowing and respiration cannot happen at the same time This physiological mechanism is to ensure that the food can be swallowed through the esophagus smoothly and safely without getting into the trachea and lungs. It can avoid suffocation, aspiration pneumonia and severe respiratory failure. Most oropharyngeal dysphagia evaluations are performed by well-trained physicians or speech therapists

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