Directed Functional Coordination Analysis of Swallowing Muscles in Healthy and Dysphagic Subjects by Surface Electromyography

Abstract

Swallowing is a complex sequence of highly regulated and coordinated skeletal and smooth muscle activity. Previous studies have attempted to determine the temporal relationship between the muscles to establish the activation sequence pattern, assessing functional muscle coordination with cross-correlation or coherence, which is seriously impaired by volume conduction. In the present work, we used conditional Granger causality from surface electromyography signals to analyse the directed functional coordination between different swallowing muscles in both healthy and dysphagic subjects ingesting saliva, water, and yoghurt boluses. In healthy individuals, both bilateral and ipsilateral muscles showed higher coupling strength than contralateral muscles. We also found a dominant downward direction in ipsilateral supra and infrahyoid muscles. In dysphagic subjects, we found a significantly higher right-to-left infrahyoid, right ipsilateral infra-to-suprahyoid, and left ipsilateral supra-to-infrahyoid interactions, in addition to significant differences in the left ipsilateral muscles between bolus types. Our results suggest that the functional coordination analysis of swallowing muscles contains relevant information on the swallowing process and possible dysfunctions associated with dysphagia, indicating that it could potentially be used to assess the progress of the disease or the effectiveness of rehabilitation therapies.

Surface Electromyography in Dentistry—Past, Present and Future

“…Furthermore, this device conforms to the international diagnostic EMG standard (IEC 60601-2-40) [ 170 ]. The Ultium EMG (Noraxon USA, Inc., Scottsdale, AZ, USA) is also used in the studies of masticatory muscles [ 128 , 171 , 172 , 173 ]. It is worth noting that this sEMG can examine different muscles of the body and is not dedicated to a specific group [ 170 ].…”

On the Applications of EMG Sensors and Signals

“…Within the swallowing theme, Ye Lin et al used conditional Granger causality from surface EMG signals to analyze the directed functional coordination between different swallowing muscles in healthy and dysphagia patients swallowing water, saliva, and yoghurt [ 3 ]. The study indicated that the analysis of functional coordination supplied relevant information for evaluating motor control synergy and provided a step towards identifying new and robust biomarkers for the early detection of dysphagia.…”

The dynamics of deglutition during head rotation using dynamic 320‐row area detector computed tomography

“…1 Furthermore, dysphagia among older adults has evolved into a major medical and social problem, such as the increase in medical costs related to the treatment of dysphagia including aspiration pneumonia. 2,3 Videofluorographic swallowing study (VFSS), 4 videoendoscopic examination of swallowing (VE), 4 electromyogram, 5 manometry, 6 and swallowing computed tomography (CT) 7 are some of the tests used to pathologically diagnose dysphagia. Among these tests, VFSS and VE are the most commonly performed.…”

“…Videofluorographic swallowing study (VFSS), 4 videoendoscopic examination of swallowing (VE), 4 electromyogram, 5 manometry, 6 and swallowing computed tomography (CT) 7 are some of the tests used to pathologically diagnose dysphagia. Among these tests, VFSS and VE are the most commonly performed.…”