2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Development of swallowing function evaluation method using multichannel surface EMG signals of suprahyoid and infrahyoid muscles

Research Project

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Project/Area Number	18H03557
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Section	一般
Review Section	Basic Section 90150:Medical assistive technology-related
Research Institution	Iwate University
Principal Investigator	Sasaki Makoto 岩手大学, 理工学部, 准教授 (80404119)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	玉田泰嗣長崎大学, 病院(歯学系), 助教 (50633145) 柴本勇聖隷クリストファー大学, リハビリテーション学部, 教授 (30458418) 中山淳一関工業高等専門学校, その他部局等, 教授 (70270212)
Project Period (FY)	2018-04-01 – 2022-03-31
Keywords	嚥下機能 / 舌骨上筋群 / 舌骨下筋群 / 多点表面筋電図 / 深層学習 / 機械学習 / 人工知能
Outline of Final Research Achievements	In this study, we developed a novel method for evaluating swallowing function that focused on changes in the movement of swallowing-related organs, which slightly occur depending on swallowing conditions, using surface electromyography (sEMG) signals from the suprahyoid and infrahyoid muscles. First, we measured the sEMG signals during the following four swallowing conditions: combining two bolus volume (1 and 6 mL water) and two techniques (normal and effortful swallow). Then, we compared the differences in swallowing pattern changes between young and elderly individuals using a combination of deep convolutional neural networks and kernel principal component analysis. Accordingly, our results found that significant differences between young and elderly individuals. These significant differences indicate differences in their ability to change swallowing patterns depending on swallowing conditions, and they may reflect an age-related decline in swallowing function.
Free Research Field	生体医工学，リハビリテーション工学
Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements	嚥下機能の精密検査には，X線透視下で食塊や口腔・咽頭の動きを観察する嚥下造影検査（VF）があるが，放射線被曝や造影剤誤嚥などのリスクを伴うため，検査対象者は嚥下障害が強く疑われる人もしくは既に重症化している人に限られる．これに対して，舌骨上筋群と舌骨下筋群の筋活動に基づく本提案手法は，嚥下方法や一回嚥下量などの異なる条件下で嚥下時sEMG信号を計測するだけで，嚥下機能の加齢変化を捉えることができる．そのため，自覚困難な機能低下の検出や，嚥下障害予備軍の早期発見に応用でき，健康寿命延伸への貢献が期待される．