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Natta L, Guido F, Algieri L, Mastronardi VM, Rizzi F, Scarpa E, Qualtieri A, Todaro MT, Sallustio V, De Vittorio M. Conformable AlN Piezoelectric Sensors as a Non-invasive Approach for Swallowing Disorder Assessment. ACS Sens 2021; 6:1761-1769. [PMID: 34010558 PMCID: PMC8294609 DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.0c02339] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Deglutition disorders (dysphagia) are common symptoms of a large number of diseases and can lead to severe deterioration of the patient's quality of life. The clinical evaluation of this problem involves an invasive screening, whose results are subjective and do not provide a precise and quantitative assessment. To overcome these issues, alternative possibilities based on wearable technologies have been proposed. We explore the use of ultrathin, compliant, and flexible piezoelectric patches that are able to convert the laryngeal movement into a well-defined electrical signal, with extremely low anatomical obstruction and high strain resolution. The sensor is based on an aluminum nitride thin film, grown on a soft Kapton substrate, integrated with an electrical charge amplifier and low-power, wireless connection to a smartphone. An ad-hoc designed laryngeal motion simulator (LMS), which is able to mimic the motions of the laryngeal prominence, was used to evaluate its performances. The physiological deglutition waveforms were then extrapolated on a healthy volunteer and compared with the sEMG (surface electromyography) of the submental muscles. Finally, different tests were conducted to assess the ability of the sensor to provide clinically relevant information. The reliability of these features permits an unbiased evaluation of the swallowing ability, paving the way to the creation of a system that is able to provide a point-of-care automatic, unobtrusive, and real-time extrapolation of the patient's swallowing quality even during normal behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lara Natta
- Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Center for Biomolecular Nanotechnologies, Arnesano 73010, Italy
| | - Francesco Guido
- Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Center for Biomolecular Nanotechnologies, Arnesano 73010, Italy
- Piezoskin S.r.l., Lecce 73100, Italy
| | - Luciana Algieri
- Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Center for Biomolecular Nanotechnologies, Arnesano 73010, Italy
- Piezoskin S.r.l., Lecce 73100, Italy
| | - Vincenzo M. Mastronardi
- Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Center for Biomolecular Nanotechnologies, Arnesano 73010, Italy
| | - Francesco Rizzi
- Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Center for Biomolecular Nanotechnologies, Arnesano 73010, Italy
| | - Elisa Scarpa
- Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Center for Biomolecular Nanotechnologies, Arnesano 73010, Italy
| | - Antonio Qualtieri
- Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Center for Biomolecular Nanotechnologies, Arnesano 73010, Italy
| | - Maria T. Todaro
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, c/o Campus Ecotekne, Istituto di Nanotecnologia Via Monteroni, Lecce 73100, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Sallustio
- Hospital Unit Phoniatrics and Communication Disorders, Rehabilitation Department, ASL Lecce, Lecce 73100, Italy
| | - Massimo De Vittorio
- Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Center for Biomolecular Nanotechnologies, Arnesano 73010, Italy
- Università del Salento, Lecce 73100, Italy
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Electromyographic activation patterns during swallowing in older adults. Sci Rep 2021; 11:5795. [PMID: 33707528 PMCID: PMC7952701 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-84972-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2020] [Accepted: 01/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Age-related weakness due to atrophy and fatty infiltration in oropharyngeal muscles may be related to dysphagia in older adults. However, little is known about changes in the oropharyngeal muscle activation pattern in older adults. This was a prospective and experimental study. Forty healthy participants (20 older [> 60 years] and 20 young [< 60 years] adults) were enrolled. Six channel surface electrodes were placed over the bilateral suprahyoid (SH), bilateral retrohyoid (RH), thyrohyoid (TH), and sternothyroid (StH) muscles. Electromyography signals were then recorded twice for each patient during swallowing of 2 cc of water, 5 cc of water, and 5 cc of a highly viscous fluid. Latency, duration, and peak amplitude were measured. The activation patterns were the same, in the order of SH, TH, and StH, in both groups. The muscle activation patterns were classified as type I and II; the type I pattern was characterized by a monophasic shape, and the type II comprised a pre-reflex phase and a main phase. The oropharyngeal muscles and SH muscles were found to develop a pre-reflex phase specifically with increasing volume and viscosity of the swallowed fluid. Type I showed a different response to the highly viscous fluid in the older group compared to that in the younger group. However, type II showed concordant changes in the groups. Therefore, healthy older people were found to compensate for swallowing with a pre-reflex phase of muscle activation in response to increased liquid volume and viscosity, to adjust for age-related muscle weakness.
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Hanaie K, Yamamoto A, Umehara K, Bessho Y, Nakamoto H, Nakayama K, Sawada K, Osawa S, Ogasawara T, Tsuneishi S, Wakasugi Y, Ishikawa A. Measurement of laryngeal elevation time using a flexible surface stretch sensor. J Oral Rehabil 2020; 47:1489-1495. [DOI: 10.1111/joor.13082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2020] [Revised: 08/08/2020] [Accepted: 08/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Kaoru Hanaie
- Kobe University Graduate School of Health Science Kobe Japan
- Senior Citizens' Policy Promotion Division Senior Citizens' Welfare Department Sakai City Government, Health and Welfare Bureau Sakai Japan
| | - Akio Yamamoto
- Kobe University Graduate School of Health Science Kobe Japan
- Faculty of Nursing Osaka Medical College Takatsuki Japan
| | - Ken Umehara
- Kobe University Graduate School of Health Science Kobe Japan
- Rehabilitation in Mie Central Medical Center Tsu Japan
| | | | | | - Kimiko Nakayama
- Kobe University Graduate School of Health Science Kobe Japan
| | | | | | | | | | - Yoko Wakasugi
- Gerodontology and Oral Rehabilitation Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences Tokyo Medical and Dental University Bunkyo Japan
| | - Akira Ishikawa
- Kobe University Graduate School of Health Science Kobe Japan
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