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Existing swallowing evaluation methods using X-ray or endoscopy are qualitative. The present study develops a swallowing monitoring and assessment system (SMAS) that is nonintrusive and quantitative. The SMAS comprises an ultrasonic Doppler sensor array, a microphone, and an inertial measurement unit to measure ultrasound signals originating only from swallowing activities. Ultrasound measurements were collected for combinations of two viscosity conditions (water and yogurt) and two volume conditions (3 mL and 9 mL) from 24 healthy participants (14 males and 10 females; age = 30.5 ± 7.6 years) with no history of swallowing disorders and were quantified for 1st peak amplitude, 2nd peak amplitude, peak-to-peak (PP) time interval, duration, energy, and proportion of two or more peaks. The peak amplitudes and energy significantly decreased by viscosity and the PP time interval and duration increased by volume. The correlation between the time measures were higher ( r = 0.78) than that of the amplitude measures ( r = 0.30), and the energy highly correlated with the 1st peak amplitude ( r = 0.86). The proportion of two or more peaks varied from 76.8% to 87.9% by viscosity and volume. Further research is needed to examine the concurrent validity and generalizability of the ultrasonic Doppler sensor-based SMAS.

Swallowing monitoring and assessment system (SMAS) using an ultrasonic Doppler sensor array was developed to overcome the limitations of existing dysphagia evaluation methods such as videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS) and fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES). This study aimed to identify the relationship between swallowing-related hyoid bone movements measured through VFSS imaging and ultrasound signals collected using SMAS. SMAS signals and VFSS images were collected when 10 healthy participants (6 males and 4 females) performed swallowing movements under a combination of 2 viscosity (Vc) conditions (thin and thick) and 2 vol (Vl) conditions (3 ml and 9 ml). The VFSS images and ultrasound signals were divided into 10-time intervals; for each time interval the movement speeds of the hyoid bone on the anterior-posterior (AP) and superior-inferior (SI) axes and the average amplitude were analyzed. A 3-phase swallowing motion profile (posterior-superior (P-S) ascending, anterior–superior (A-S) ascending, and posterior-inferior (P-I) descending) of the hyoid bone was identified. While the composite distance (2.55 ± 0.13 cm) and time (0.72 ± 0.03 sec) of hyoid bone movement were the longest in the P-I descending phase, the composite speed of hyoid bone movement (7.25 ± 0.51 cm/s) was the fastest in the A-S ascending phase. The correlation between hyoid bone movement speed and average SMAS amplitude was highest in the AP axis (r = 0.68 ± 0.03). Further research is needed to examine if the presence of dysphagia and their severity level can be identified using SMAS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]