The objective of this study was to conduct the first patient usability testing of a mobile health (mHealth) system for in-home swallowing therapy. Five participants with a history of head and neck cancer evaluated the mHealth system. After completing an in-application (app) tutorial with the clinician, participants were asked to independently complete five tasks: pair the device to the smartphone, place the device correctly, exercise, interpret progress displays, and close the system.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMobile health (mHealth) technologies may offer an opportunity to address longstanding clinical challenges, such as access and adherence to swallowing therapy. Mobili-T is an mHealth device that uses surface electromyography (sEMG) to provide biofeedback on submental muscles activity during exercise. An automated swallow-detection algorithm was developed for Mobili-T.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSurface electromyography (sEMG) is used as an adjuvant to dysphagia therapy to demonstrate the activity of submental muscles during swallowing exercises. Mechanomyography (MMG) has been suggested as a potential superior alternative to sEMG; however, this advantage is not confirmed for signal acquired from submental muscles. This study compared the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) obtained from sEMG and MMG sensors during swallowing tasks, in healthy participants and those with a history of head and neck cancer (HNC), a population with altered anatomy and a high incidence of dysphagia.
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