THE CUSHION SCANNING TECHNIQUE - A METHOD OF DYNAMIC TONGUE SONOGRAPHY AND ITS COMPARISON WITH THE TRANSDUCER-SKIN COUPLING SCANNING TECHNIQUE DURING SWALLOWING

Rationale and Objectives. We describe the cushion scanning technique ( CST), which solves common difficulties encountered during ultrasound i nvestigations of swallowing. These problems arise when the transducer is held in direct contact with the submental area. Some of these probl ems include movements of the ultrasound transducer during swallowing a nd compression of the submental region, which causes abnormal swallowi ng patterns. Methods. To compare ultrasound images produced with the c onventional hand-held transducer-skin coupling scanning technique with the CST, we studied five participants with no clinical signs of tongu e dysfunction. All tongue movements were recorded by real-time B+M-mod e sonography. Results. Images produced with the hand-held transducer w ere found to be unstable because the transducer moved during swallowin g, thereby changing the scanning section. By contrast, the transducer and the participant's head remained in a constant position throughout the CST trial. There was no obvious compression of the submental muscl es. Conclusion. The CST allows for a better intraindividual reproducib ility of the swallowing pattern and for a more standardized and object ive ultrasound examination than the hand-held transducer-skin coupling scanning technique.