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BackgroundSwallowing is a continuous process with substantive interdependencies among different muscles, and it plays a significant role in our daily life. The aim of this study was to propose a novel technique based on high-density surface electromyography (HD sEMG) for the evaluation of normal swallowing functions.MethodsA total of 96 electrodes were placed on the front neck to acquire myoelectric signals from 12 healthy subjects while they were performing different swallowing tasks. HD sEMG energy maps were constructed based on the root mean square values to visualize muscular activities during swallowing. The effects of different volumes, viscosities, and head postures on the normal swallowing process were systemically investigated by using the energy maps.ResultsThe results showed that the HD sEMG energy maps could provide detailed spatial and temporal properties of the muscle electrical activity, and visualize the muscle contractions that closely related to the swallowing function. The energy maps also showed that the swallowing time and effort was also explicitly affected by the volume and viscosity of the bolus. The concentration of the muscular activities shifted to the opposite side when the subjects turned their head to either side.ConclusionsThe proposed method could provide an alternative method to physiologically evaluate the dynamic characteristics of normal swallowing and had the advantage of providing a full picture of how different muscle activities cooperate in time and location. The findings from this study suggested that the HD sEMG technique might be a useful tool for fast screening and objective assessment of swallowing disorders or dysphagia.

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We report an electrochemical immunosensing method for rapid and sensitive detection of two mycotoxins, fumonisin B1 (FB1) and deoxynivalenol (DON). A disposable screen-printed carbon electrode (SPE) was used as sensing platform. The working electrode part of SPE was modified by gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and polypyrrole (PPy)electrochemically reduced graphene oxide (ErGO) nanocomposite film for effective antitoxin antibody immobilization, enhanced electrical conductivity, and biocompatibility. Under optimized test conditions, the limit of detection and linear range achieved for FB1 were 4.2 ppb and 0.2 to 4.5 ppm (%RSD=4.9%); and the corresponding values for DON were 8.6 ppb and 0.05 to 1 ppm (%RSD=5.7%). The immunosensor can specifically detect the target toxin in co-existing toxins environment. The sensor exhibited high sensitivity and low matrix interference when tested using extracts obtained from spiked corn samples. Hence, our electrochemical immunosensing scheme can be adopted for highly sensitive and rapid detection of multiple co-contaminant mycotoxins in food and feed products.