Objective:To explore the application of digital acoustic analysis in assessing the risk of aspiration among persons with dysphagia using the Praat speech analysis software.Methods:The swallowing of 46 stroke survivors with dysphagia was studied using video fluoroscopy. Each patient was required to pronounce " yi/i/" 3 times before and after taking each mouthful of food, and their voice samples were collected. The subjects were divided into a non-aspiration group of 16 and an aspiration group of 30 based on their penetration-aspiration scale scores. Fundamental frequency, relative average perturbation (RAP), jitter, shimmer, amplitude perturbation quotient and harmonic-to-noise ratio were compared between the two groups before and after taking food.Results:For the non-aspiration group, there was no significant difference in the acoustic data before and after eating. For the aspiration group there were significant differences in fundamental frequency, relative average perturbation and jitter before and after taking food. The average RAP and jitter of the non-aspiration group were significantly better than the aspiration group′s averages before eating. After eating, however, significant differences were observed only in average jitter.Conclusions:Analyzing perturbation and jitter can help to identify persons at risk of aspiration.

Objective:To explore the effect of the pharyngeal pressure feedback training on pharyngeal constriction in persons with swallowing disorders caused by brainstem lesions.Methods:Twenty patients with disordered swallowing caused by a brainstem lesion were randomly divided into a control group and an intervention group, each of 10. Both groups received routine swallowing training including oral sensorimotor training, neuromuscular stimulation and balloon catheter dilation, while the intervention group was additionally provided with two weeks of pharyngeal pressure feedback training. Before and after the treatment, both groups were evaluated in terms of the peak pressure of superior and inferior pharyngeal constriction, endoscopically and also using the functional oral intake scale.Results:There was no significant difference between the two groups in any measure before the intervention. Afterward, both groups had improved significantly by all of the measurements, but the average peak upper pharyngeal pressure, the average intake scale score and the endoscopy results of the intervention group were all significantly better than the control group′s averages.Conclusions:Pharyngeal pressure feedback training can significantly relieve swallowing disorders caused by brainstem lesions.

Objective:To observe the immediate effect of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) on the initiation of swallowing among stroke survivors with dysphagia.Methods:Forty-two patients with delayed swallowing initiation were asked to eat 3 boluses of a thin liquid before and during NMES stimulation. The process was recorded and analyzed using a digital data acquisition and analysis system, including the initiation of the pharyngeal swallow (IPS), oral transit time (OTT), larynx closure duration (LCD), and pharynx transit time (PTT). They were also evaluated using the Rosenbek penetration-aspiration scale (PAS).Results:During NMES, significant improvement was observed in the average IPS, PAS and OTT results compared to before the intervention. There was, however, no significant difference in the average LCD or PTT. No obvious adverse reactions were observed during the stimulation.Conclusion:NMES has an immediate effect on improving IPS, PAS and OTT, and can be used as a new compensatory early treatment for stroke survivors with dysphagia.

Objective:To explore the value of flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) in guiding the decannulation of neurological disease patients with dysphagia after a tracheotomy.Methods:The FEES results of 188 neurological disease patients with dysphagia who had undergone a tracheotomy were analyzed retrospectively. The utility of FEES evaluation indexes (including glottis activity, the classification of pharyngeal secretions and residues as well as penetration-aspiration grade) for predicting the success of decannulation was explored.Results:One hundred and nine of the patients (the success group) were decannulated successfully and 79 (the failure group) were not, a success rate of 57%. The abnormal glottis activity rate among the failure group was 55%, significantly higher than among the success group (21%). The pharyngeal secretion classifications and penetration-aspiration grades among the success group were also significantly lower than among the failure group, on average. The average course of recovery from the tracheotomy was 184 days in the success group, significantly shorter than that of the failure group (292 days). No significant differences in residues were observed.Conclusion:The glottis activity, secretions and intake aspiration evaluated using FEES are of great value for guiding the decannulation of neurological disease patients with dysphagia after a tracheotomy.

Objective: To identify the pathophysiological characteristics of cortical stroke survivors′ swallowing. Methods: Sixty cortical stroke survivors with dysphagia and cognitive impairment were enrolled into the observation group, while another 16 with dysphagia but without cognitive impairment formed the unimpaired control group and 16 healthy counterparts were selected for a normal control group. Each subject was recorded videofluoroscopically while swallowing 5ml of a liquid of medium consistency. The occurrence of refusing to eat, mouth opening difficulty, incomplete oral closure, residue in the oral cavity, residue in the pharyngeal cavity, leakage and aspiration were observed. Each subject′s swallowing time and kinematic parameters were analyzed from the fluoroscopic videos. Results: The incidence of refusing to eat (37.5%) and/or incomplete mouth closure (68.75%) were significantly higher in the observation group than in the other two groups. The incidence of difficulty in opening the mouth (37.5%), residue in the oral cavity (81.25%), residue in the pharyngeal cavity (56.25%), leakage (56.25%) and aspiration (50%) of the observation group were significantly higher in the observation group than among the normal controls, but were not significantly different from those incidences among the group without cognitive impairment. The average oral transit time and soft palate elevation time of the observation group were significantly longer than those of the other two groups. The observation group′s average hyoid movement time was significantly longer than that of the normal control group, but not significantly different from that of the group without cognitive impairment. There were no significant differences among the groups in average upper esophageal sphincter opening time, larynx closure time or the kinematic parameters. Conclusions Stroke survivors with dysphagia and cognitive impairment present dysphagia characteristic of oral phase swallowing difficulties.

Objective: To explore the sensitivity and specificity of the Chinese version of the volume and viscosity swallowing test with modified safety and effectiveness indicators (VVST-CV) in assessing deglutition disorders. Methods: The solvent, volume, viscosity, and test index of the volume and viscosity swallowing test were modified before it was used to evaluate 89 patients with swallowing disorders. The positive rates of the safety indexes (coughing, voice changes and blood oxygen saturation decline at least 3%) and the efficiency indexes (poor lip closure, oral residue, pharynx residue and swallowing) were recorded and compared and compared with the positive rates of penetration, aspiration and food residue determined by means of according to the videofluoroscopic swallowing study, then the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of the modified VVST-CV with regard to the safety and efficiency of swallowing were calculated. Results: The VVST-CV′s sensitivity in detecting dysphagia was 0.97. For impaired safety it was 0.85 and for impaired swallowing efficiency it was 0.95. The sensitivity of the coughing index was 0.65, that of sound change was 0.60 and that of oxygen saturation decrease was 0.42. The positive predictive values for coughing, sound change and oxygen saturation decrease were 0.98, 0.94 and 0.94, respectively. Conclusion The VVST-CV is simple, feasible and sensitive. It can be widely useful in the evaluation of dysphagia in clinical practice.

Objective To evaluate the effect of radiotherapy on the swallowing ability of persons with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) when swallowing food with different consistencies.Methods Twenty NPC patients were monitored fluoroscopically while swallowing materials with three different consistencies after radiotherapy.The oral transit time,oral residue,pharyngeal residue,penetration-aspiration and cricopharyngeal muscle function were observed.Results There were significant differences in all of the measurements when swallowing the three different foods.There were significant differences in all of the measurements between swallowing paste and liquids,but only in the oral transit time,oral residue and pharyngeal residue between swallowing thin and thick liquids.Conclusions The severity of swallowing dysfunction varies in NPC patients after radiotherapy.Foods with different consistencies have different effects on swallowing ability.Videofluoroscopy can evaluate swallowing objectively and provide an objective basis for food preparation.

Ohjective To explore the impact of constraint-induced aphasia therapy (CIAT) on language function and neural activity in patients with chronic Broca's aphasia.Methods Two chronic aphasics whose use of language was recovering after standard language therapy were selected to receive 1.5 h of CIAT twice daily for two weeks (30 hours in total).Before and after the CIAT they were tested using a block-designed picture-naming task,fMRIs were taken and their use of language was examined.Results The language function assessments showed relatively large improvements in the subjects' use of language after 4 weeks of conventional language training,but not much further change after 8 and 12 weeks.After the two weeks of CIAT,their language function improved further to a certain extent.fMRI showed increased activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus with or without enhanced activation in the left hemisphere,and reduced activation in the right inferior frontal gyrus.Conclusions Functional reorganization induced in the brain by CIAT was associated with up-regulation of the left inferior frontal gyrus or down-regulation of the right inferior frontal gyrus.Even the whole language network may have been modified.

Objective To explore the effect of the modified balloon dilatation on excitability of the submental swallowing muscle and its relationship with swallowing function of dysphagic patients with brainstem stroke.Methods Thirty unilateral brainstem stroke patients with upper esophageal sphincter (UES) dysfunction were recruited and randomly divided into a dilatation group and a control group,each of 15.The control group was given the routine swallowing therapy twice daily,while the dilatation group was provided one routine swallowing treatment plus a modified balloon dilatation daily.The treatment lasted 3 weeks,30min per day and 5 days per week.Both groups were evaluated using the bilateral submental motor evoked potentials (SMEPs),penetration-aspiration scale (PAS) and functional oral intake scale (FOIS) before and after treatment.Results Repeated analysis of variance showed that there was significant interaction effect of group,time on SMEPs.The MEPs of the affected submental muscle increased significantly in both groups after treatment (P＜0.01),but only the amplitude of SMEP of the affected submental muscles in the dilatation group was higher than that of the control group after treatment (P＜0.05).In the dilatation group,the average FOIS score increased significantly (P＜0.01),while the average PAS score decreased significantly after the treatment (P＜0.05).An increase of amplitude of the affected SMEP was strongly correlated with the improvement in the average PAS score (P＜0.01,r=0.815),but weakly correlated with the average FOIS score (P =0.02,r =0.43).Conclusion The modified balloon dilatation therapy can increase the excitability of the cortical-affected lateral brainstem-swallowing muscle pathway in patients with unilateral brainstem stroke,which might be more correlated with improvement in swallowing safety.

Objective To explorer the effectiveness of game-based surface electromyographic biofeedback training (GBsEMGBF) on dysphagic brainstem injury patients.Methods Thirty-six brainstem injury dysphagic patients were randomly and evenly divided into a treatment group and a control group,both of 18,by using a random number table.Both groups were given conventional swallowing rehabilitation including oral sensory and motor training,Mendelsohn swallowing training and balloon dilatation of the cricopharyngeal muscle.The treatment group was additionally provided with GBsEMGBF training.All the treatments were provided 5 times per week for 5 weeks.Both groups were assessed using the functional oral intake scale (FOIS),penetration-aspiration scale (PAS),hyoid anterior movement (HAM),hyoid superior movement (HSM) and upper esophageal sphincter opening (UO) before and after the intervention.Results Before the treatment there were no significant differences between the two groups in all the measurements.After the treatment,there was a significant improvement in the average FOIS,PAS,HAM and HSM scores in both groups,but with significantly greater improvement in the treatment group.Significant improvement was observed in the average UO score after the intervention,but without significant differences between the two groups.Conclusion GBsEMGBF can significantly improve the swallowing function and hyoid motor function in dysphagic patients caused by brainstem injury.