Tongue Rehabilitation Device for Dysphagic Patients
Dysphagia refers to difficulty in swallowing often associated with syndromic disorders. In dysphagic patients’ rehabilitation, tongue motility is usually treated and monitored via simple exercises, in which the tongue is pushed against a depressor held by the speech therapist in different...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2019-10-01
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| Series: | Sensors |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/19/21/4657 |
| _version_ | 1797999369384886272 |
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| author | Mario Milazzo Andrea Panepinto Angelo Maria Sabatini Serena Danti |
| author_facet | Mario Milazzo Andrea Panepinto Angelo Maria Sabatini Serena Danti |
| author_sort | Mario Milazzo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Dysphagia refers to difficulty in swallowing often associated with syndromic disorders. In dysphagic patients’ rehabilitation, tongue motility is usually treated and monitored via simple exercises, in which the tongue is pushed against a depressor held by the speech therapist in different directions. In this study, we developed and tested a simple pressure/force sensor device, named “Tonic Tongue (ToTo)”, intended to support training and monitoring tasks for the rehabilitation of tongue musculature. It consists of a metallic frame holding a ball bearing support equipped with a sterile disposable depressor, whose angular displacements are counterbalanced by extensional springs. The conversion from angular displacement to force is managed using a simple mechanical model of ToTo operation. Since the force exerted by the tongue in various directions can be estimated, quantitative assessment of the outcome of a given training program is possible. A first prototype of ToTo was tested on 26 healthy adults, who were trained for one month. After the treatment, we observed a statistically significant improvement with a force up to 2.2 N (median value) in all tested directions of pushing, except in the downward direction, in which the improvement was slightly higher than 5 N (median value). ToTo promises to be an innovative and reliable device that can be used for the rehabilitation of dysphagic patients. Moreover, since it is a self-standing device, it could be used as a point-of-care solution for in-home rehabilitation management of dysphasia. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T11:03:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-03624bad1d6d4cd78b6734e69c423268 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-8220 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T11:03:39Z |
| publishDate | 2019-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sensors |
| spelling | doaj.art-03624bad1d6d4cd78b6734e69c4232682022-12-22T04:28:27ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202019-10-011921465710.3390/s19214657s19214657Tongue Rehabilitation Device for Dysphagic PatientsMario Milazzo0Andrea Panepinto1Angelo Maria Sabatini2Serena Danti3The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Viale Rinaldo Piaggio 34, 56025 Pontedera (PI), ItalyDepartment of Surgical, Medical, Molecular Pathology and Emergency Care, University of Pisa, via Savi 10, 56126 Pisa, ItalyThe BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Viale Rinaldo Piaggio 34, 56025 Pontedera (PI), ItalyThe BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Viale Rinaldo Piaggio 34, 56025 Pontedera (PI), ItalyDysphagia refers to difficulty in swallowing often associated with syndromic disorders. In dysphagic patients’ rehabilitation, tongue motility is usually treated and monitored via simple exercises, in which the tongue is pushed against a depressor held by the speech therapist in different directions. In this study, we developed and tested a simple pressure/force sensor device, named “Tonic Tongue (ToTo)”, intended to support training and monitoring tasks for the rehabilitation of tongue musculature. It consists of a metallic frame holding a ball bearing support equipped with a sterile disposable depressor, whose angular displacements are counterbalanced by extensional springs. The conversion from angular displacement to force is managed using a simple mechanical model of ToTo operation. Since the force exerted by the tongue in various directions can be estimated, quantitative assessment of the outcome of a given training program is possible. A first prototype of ToTo was tested on 26 healthy adults, who were trained for one month. After the treatment, we observed a statistically significant improvement with a force up to 2.2 N (median value) in all tested directions of pushing, except in the downward direction, in which the improvement was slightly higher than 5 N (median value). ToTo promises to be an innovative and reliable device that can be used for the rehabilitation of dysphagic patients. Moreover, since it is a self-standing device, it could be used as a point-of-care solution for in-home rehabilitation management of dysphasia.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/19/21/4657rehabilitationdysphagiatonguepersonalized medicine |
| spellingShingle | Mario Milazzo Andrea Panepinto Angelo Maria Sabatini Serena Danti Tongue Rehabilitation Device for Dysphagic Patients Sensors rehabilitation dysphagia tongue personalized medicine |
| title | Tongue Rehabilitation Device for Dysphagic Patients |
| title_full | Tongue Rehabilitation Device for Dysphagic Patients |
| title_fullStr | Tongue Rehabilitation Device for Dysphagic Patients |
| title_full_unstemmed | Tongue Rehabilitation Device for Dysphagic Patients |
| title_short | Tongue Rehabilitation Device for Dysphagic Patients |
| title_sort | tongue rehabilitation device for dysphagic patients |
| topic | rehabilitation dysphagia tongue personalized medicine |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/19/21/4657 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mariomilazzo tonguerehabilitationdevicefordysphagicpatients AT andreapanepinto tonguerehabilitationdevicefordysphagicpatients AT angelomariasabatini tonguerehabilitationdevicefordysphagicpatients AT serenadanti tonguerehabilitationdevicefordysphagicpatients |