Measurement of swallowing using flexible polymer sensor.

We proposed a new method to measure swallowing in this study. A flexible polymer sensor was used to measure human swallowing. Electromyogram (EMG) of suprahyoid muscles were measured as a reference of swallowing. We also developed a measurement system for the flexible polymer sensor, which consists of two measurement circuits; the 1(st) one measures the voltage of flexible polymer sensor, and the 2(nd) one EMG of suprahyoid muscles. We conducted measurement experiments focused on human swallowing to confirm the ability of this sensor. At the experiment one subject was asked to sit in three different postures and to drink a cup of water. Results show that human swallowing can be detected by this flexible polymer sensor.