DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF PORTABLE BIOFEEDBACK SYSTEMS FOR USE IN ORAL DYSPHAGIA REHABILITATION

The management of dysphagia presents a major problem in the comprehens ive rehabilitation of stroke and head injury patients. Dysphagia is a disorder of the swallowing process. Oral dysphagia refers to abnormali ties in the oral phase of the swallowing mechanism. The oral phase of the swallowing mechanism is important for the proper triggering of the depressors and mouth-care swabs. There is thus a need for a better th erapeutic method for oral dysphagia. The purpose of this paper is to r eport the development of audio-visual biofeedback devices for treating oral dysphagia. Portable biofeedback devices rendering feedback of bi omechanical parameters characterizing the oral phase were developed an d evaluated in preliminary clinical trials. A patient progress index ( PPI) was developed and used to quantify the overall patient progress. The devices demonstrated good patient acceptability.