Recent Advances in Sensing Oropharyngeal Swallowing Function in Japan

Dysphagia (difficulty in swallowing) is an important issue in the elderly because it causes aspiration pneumonia, which is the second largest cause of death in this group. It also causes decline in activities of daily living and quality of life. The oral phase of swallowing has been neglected, despite its importance in the evaluation of dysphagia, because adequate protocols and measuring devices are unavailable. However, recent advances in sensor technology have enabled straightforward, non-invasive measurement of the movement of important swallowing-related organs such as the lips and tongue, as well as the larynx. In this article, we report the present state and possibility of clinical application of such systems developed in Japan.