Anterior and posterior tongue activity sensor based on triaxial force sensor

In this research, we fabricated triaxial force sensors which can measure tongue activities. In order to analyze the role of tongue activity of front part (anterior tongue) and back part (posterior) of the tongue, we fixed two triaxial force sensors to the palate. Our triaxial force sensors also have temperature sensors, which can measure the temperature change in the mouth so that temperature drift of the force sensors output can be compensated. In the liquid-swallowing experiment, pressure and shear force distributions were observed to clarify tongue motion. We measured and calculated anterior and posterior tongue activities during swallowing, and found that anterior tongue activity was larger than posterior tongue activity. These results indicated that the anterior tongue works as an anchor and the posterior tongue works as an actuator which transports the food or liquid to the throat.