Development of training equipments and methods for the elderly with decreased swallowing function

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K12966
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Rehabilitation science/Welfare engineering
• Research Institution: Kumamoto Health Science University
• Principal Investigator: ootsuka yuichi 熊本保健科学大学, 保健科学部, 准教授 (70638436)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 宮本 恵美 熊本保健科学大学, 保健科学部, 講師 (80623511) ; 古閑 公治 熊本保健科学大学, 保健科学部, 教授 (20623507) ; 久保 高明 熊本保健科学大学, 保健科学部, 准教授 (40459368)
• Research Collaborator: Matsumoto Rina
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 誤嚥性肺炎予防 / 喉頭挙上訓練 / 開口トレーニング機器 / 舌骨上筋群 / 高齢者

Outline of Final Research Achievements

we focused on mouth-opening exercises, which we combined with conventional exercise methods, using a newly devised mouth -opening training device to impose a load, and investigated whether this was useful as a more effective laryngeal elevation exercise technique.
The fact that the modification of conventional mouth-opening exercises by
the imposition of a load increased the activity of the suprahyoid muscles, improving the endurance of the suprahyoid muscles in particular, suggested that this method may be effective in improving muscle strength, which may potentially improve swallowing function.

Free Research Field

失語症学、摂食嚥下障害学