Implementation of new 3D printed & advanced materials sensors for the bio analysis of dysphagia patients

吞咽困难是指吞咽困难。虽然在ICD-10中被分类为“症状和体征”，但在某些情况下，它被单独列为一种疾病。它可能是一种感觉，表明固体或液体从口腔进入胃有困难，缺乏咽感或吞咽机制的各种其他不足。吞咽困难是许多疾病常见的继发症状，例如，50-75%的脑卒中患者患有吞咽困难。2018年，《全国中风》杂志称，英国每年有超过10万人中风，其中120万中风幸存者。这相当于仅在中风队列中（sars - cov -2/COVID - 19之前）就有60万至85万吞咽困难患者。visvisgo估计英国每年有187,000例吸入性肺炎病例。不良后果导致可避免的疾病和长期住院。不正确的干预会阻碍治疗，增加费用和住院时间，并增加病情严重或死亡的风险。目前治疗吞咽困难的技术包括视频透视检查、纤维内镜吞咽评估（FEES）测试和诊断工具，这些工具过于昂贵、不确定，而且无法经常使用。描述符分类不准确，耗时，需要多个组件和灵活性（这也会导致用户冲突），仅用于培训，不记录。目前，言语和语言治疗师在治疗患有吞咽困难的患者时会进行特定的评估。这些评估包括使用测试（视频透视和费用）进行记录和评估，然后通过多种途径进行评估。这些途径是由纯粹的观察结果决定的，因此可以解释，因此是主观的。目前有数百种不同的测试（以及这些测试的组合）在使用。测试的例子包括把病人的头转向一边，观察喉咙的吞咽功能（如吞咽速度、咳嗽或飞溅），或者护士按压病人的喉咙，观察他们吞咽。这些测试都是粗糙的，没有可靠的结果测量。维斯戈开发了一种逐步改变吞咽困难的方法。他们开发了一种传感器功能，可以放置在患者的喉咙上，以便定量和可重复地评估患者的吞咽功能。该博士项目将通过研究智能压电传感器阵列的使用来进一步开发这种可穿戴技术，该传感器阵列具有获取功能数据的能力，以帮助确定与食物和饮料相关的生理依赖性。此外，这种咽喉传感器技术还具有积极刺激参与吞咽的局部和特定肌肉的潜力，从而为中风引起的吞咽困难患者的康复提供了一种潜在的治疗方法。

Dysphagia is difficulty in swallowing. Although classified under "symptoms and signs" in ICD-10, in some contexts it is classified as a condition in its own right. It may be a sensation that suggests difficulty in the passage of solids or liquids from the mouth to the stomach, a lack of pharyngeal sensation or various other inadequacies of the swallowing mechanism. Dysphagia is a common secondary symptom of many diseases, for example, 50-75% of stroke patients suffer from Dysphagia. In 2018, Stroke of the Nation, stated over 100,000 people suffer stroke yearly in the UK, with 1.2 million stroke survivors. This equates to 600,000- 850,000 dysphagia sufferers within the stroke cohort alone (pre-SARS-CoV-2/COVID 19). Viscgo estimates 187,000 UK yearly aspirational pneumonia cases. Adverse outcomes lead to avoidable illness and prolonged hospitalisation. Incorrect intervention can impede treatment, increase cost, length of hospitalisation stays and increase risk of severity or death.Current state of art to treat dysphagia include video fluoroscopy, a fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) test and diagnostic tools which are prohibitively expensive, inconclusive, and impractical to use regularly. Descriptor categorisations, which are inaccurate, time-consuming and require multiple components and dexterity (which also leads to user conflict), are intended for training only and are not recorded.Currently, speech and language therapists perform specific assessments when treating patients suffering from dysphagia. These assessments include recording and evaluation using tests (video fluoroscopy and FEES) that are then evaluated via a process of multiple pathways. These pathways are determined from results which are purely observational and therefore open to interpretation and as such are subjective. There are hundreds of different tests (and combination of these tests) currently used. Examples of tests include the turning of the patients head to one side and observing the swallowing function in the throat (eg speed of swallow, coughing or spluttering) or the nurse applying a compression against the patients throat and observing them whilst they swallow. These tests are all crude and without reliable outcome measures.Viscgo has developed a step change approach to dysphagia. They have developed a sensor capability that can be placed on the patients throat in order to quantitively and reproducibly assess the patients swallowing function. This PhD project will further develop this wearable technology by investigating the use of smart piezoelectric sensor arrays that have the capability to gain functional data to assist in the determination of physiology against food and drink related dependencies. In addition, this throat sensor technology will have the potential to also actively stimulate local and specific muscles involved in swallowing, thus offering a potential treatment to rehabilitate patients suffering from stroke induced dysphagia.