Influence of the aging on the tongue function and tongue shape, and the rlationship to the eating

Research Project

Project/Area Number	07838022
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Section	時限
Research Field	咀嚼
Research Institution	THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKUSHIMA
Principal Investigator	ICHIKAWA Tetsuo The University of Tokushima, Dental Hospital, Lecturer, 歯学部・付属病院, 講師 (90193432)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	MATSUMOTO Naoyuki The University of Tokushima, School of Dentistry, Professor, 歯学部, 教授 (00013871) 薦田淳司徳島大学, 歯学部, 助手 (40221981) 堀内政信徳島大学, 歯学部, 助手 (10219214)
Project Period (FY)	1995 – 1996
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 1996)
Budget Amount *help	¥2,200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,200,000) Fiscal Year 1996: ¥500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000) Fiscal Year 1995: ¥1,700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,700,000)
Keywords	tongue movement / ultrasonic measurement / eating / tongue shape / vertical dimension of occulusion / 舌形状 / 咀嚼
Research Abstract	Principal articulator of not only speech and swallowing, but also masticatory system, that helps to prepare the food bolus. Positions and movements of tongue affect the denture stability. The significant function of tongue was reported in the Journal "Quintessence International". Dynamic measurement of tongue shape was developed using an ultrasonic and CCD camera systems. The system was consisted of 3.5 MHz transducer of which beam scans the sector area of 90 degrees angle along dorsum at 30 times a second and a detector. To obtain the relative position of the probe to the head, markets attached to the probe and glasses were detected using CCD camera simultaneously during the ultrasonic measurement. The palate was impressed by a dental impression material and the casts are poured. A palatal prosthesis was fabricated. Both CCD camera image and tongue image signals were imposed in an image signal using audio-visual mixer and the signal was digitized by a computer. The tongue and palatal shapes at a desired time were superimposed with an image processing software after adjusting the movements of head and probe. The tongue shape to the palate was measured at rest position of occlusion and increase of vertical dimension. The anterior portion of tongue was coherent to the anterior palatal contour at rest position. The tongue was positioned to the post-downward at the increase of vertical dimension with the decrease of curvance of tongue contour. The above system and findings were reported in the Journal of Japan Prosthodontic Society. As next step of this study influence of the aging on the change of tongue shape and tongue function will be investigated.