Configurable portable/ambulatory instrument for the analysis of the coordination between respiration and swallowing

Physiological studies of swallowing and the diagnosis and treatment of dysphagia are crucially dependent of detailed information of respiratory and feeding events. Home telemonitoring is of great interest in this area, where large numbers of people have long term conditions. The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) describe a new configurable instrument that can be used in ambulatory and telemedicine applications and (2) evaluate the performance of this device in the description of physiological and abnormal events during water swallowing. The instrument is able to detect when water is beginning to enter the mouth of the volunteer, to unobtrusively monitor the respiration, and to characterize the elevation of the larynx. The performance of the system was tested in normal subjects and patients with dysphagia, showing results in close agreement with the physiology. We concluded that the developed system could be a useful tool for the ambulatory evaluation of respiratory and feeding events and for the implementation of telemedicine services, contributing to reduce the costs of the assistance offered to patients with dysphagia.