Abstract
Dysphagia is a prevalent condition characterised by the dysfunction/ incoordination of the anatomical structures involved in the swallowing biomechanics.
 Dysphagia can have serious clinical consequences such as pneumonia, malnutrition, dehydration and even death. It implies a high negative impact on patients quality of life and may also represent increased financial costs in order to treat associated complications.
 It is essential to correctly identify and evaluate patients with this problem. However, the gold standard diagnostic exams present risk of aspiration, they are uncomfortable and invasive, and still present other inherent disadvantages/risks related with the technique itself.
 The simulation area may contribute to a more detailed knowledge of the swallowing biomechanics and, when applied to pathologic scenarios (i.e. dysphagia), to identify higher risk patients and manage the treatment in a more adequate and specific way. It will also seems to be able to reduce the use of invasive techniques, excessive radiation and associated economical costs.
 The aim of this paper is to review the existing research studies on biomechanical mechanisms of swallowing and dysphagia.
 Computer simulation seems to be a solution to better understand these mechanisms and even to reduce clinical disadvantages when compared with the available diagnostic methods used with these patients.
Highlights
Dysphagia is described as an abnormality and symptom characterised by a difficulty during the swallowing process
Summary of biomedical simulation on dysphagia Computational models may offer several advantages for the analysis of the swallowing process once they allow to predict the result without exposing patients to uncomfortable techniques or excessive radiation, as in the case of the most common complementary diagnostic tests in dysphagia (i.e. fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) and videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS))
By reducing the impact of these disadvantages, this analysis may become accessible to all patients with dysphagia as well as doable by all institutions whereas specified technical professional would not be required
Summary
Dysphagia is described as an abnormality and symptom characterised by a difficulty during the swallowing process. It is a prevalent condition, recognised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the International Classification of Disease (ICD) (Newman et al 2016). Dysphagia can be present as a consequence of various pathologic conditions There are examples such as older people (prevalence between 15-40%), neurodegenerative diseases (Parkinson: 52-82%; Alzheimer: 57-84%; motor neuron disease, depending on the stage of the disease: 30-100%), stroke (37-78%), traumatic brain injury (25%), neck and head cancer as disease consequence or after chemotherapy (44-50%) (Hayoun et al 2015; Mowlavi et al 2016; Newman et al 2016). The pharynx, in its turn, is delimited by pharyngeal constricting muscles that are inserted superiorly in the skull and hyoid
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