Design of a portable device: Toward assisting in tongue-strengthening exercises and dysphagia management

Abstract

A Tongue-Machine Interaction System (TMIS) can serve as a valuable tool for tongue strengthening training which could contribute to rehabilitation of patients with dysphagia and eventually help in mending the oropharyngeal pattern of swallowing. The TMIS can also facilitate research into dysphagia, as tongue positioning and Range-of-Motion are commonly used outcome parameters in dysphagia research. Using a TMIS (for interacting with computers, a variety of communication devices and mobility support systems) would be tantamount to performing tongue muscle strengthening exercises. Such exercises can help patients with dysphagia in improving strength of the oral musculature. TMIS’s features can also provide valuable biofeedback during the tongue muscle exercises. The adoption of TMIS’s in clinical practice has been limited in the past since many of them require patients to have a palatal plate or some component of interactivity mounted in the mouth and/or on the tongue. This paper reports the design and implementation of a portable, low-cost, minimally invasive and, easy to learn TMIS which can be utilized for training and strengthening of tongue musculature. The selection and incorporation of design features important to the target patient demography are also discussed.