Wearable Monitoring Systems for Swallowing Function and Disorders

Two iterations of a wearable surface EMG (sEMG) sensors patch we developed will be tested against commercially available wired devices. The first iteration of the wearable sensor patch is an ultrathin patch with a honeycomb-inspired design that included sEMG and strain sensors in order to capture muscle activity and thyroid movement signals from the submental area during swallows and swallow maneuvers/exercises. The second iteration is a more durable slightly thicker flexible, non-stretchable, and double-sided thin sEMG patch. Participants will perform standardized swallow tasks while wearing the device.

Conventional sensors will include snap-on wired electrodes as the control condition. The same set of standardized swallow tasks will be completed with the conventional and commercially available devices as well.