A NEW APPLICATION FOR ELECTROPALATOGRAPHY - SWALLOWING

Electropalatography (EPG) has been applied to linguistic research and speech pathology. This study evaluated whether EPG could provide usefu l information on swallow-related tongue action. Specifically, the inve stigation focused on the quantification of tongue-palate contact patte rns for swallowing and on the effects of bolus volume and consistency. Five normal subjects were tested during swallows of 5 and 30 ml of wa ter, 5 and 30 mi of gelatin, and saliva. By segmenting the EPG time-mo tion sequences into four stages (prepropulsion, propulsion, full conta ct, withdrawal) and compartmentalizing the palate into six bins (front , central, back, lateral, medial, midline), temporal and spatial chara cteristics of deglutitive tongue-palate contact were revealed. Signifi cant differences (p < 0.01) were found in contact timing across bolus sizes and consistencies for the propulsion and full contact stages. Wa ter was propelled faster than gelatin, and 30-ml gelatin faster than 5 -ml gelatin. Dry swallows had a longer full contact stage than water. Contact patterns, though not statistically analyzed at this time, appe ared to vary little as a function of bolus properties. Our findings su ggest potential value in using EPG to investigate the timing and patte rning of abnormal tongue movements associated with disordered swallowi ng.