Acoustical Detection of Swallowing Aspiration

Swallowing dysfunction (dysphagia) is a common disorder in patients with neurological impairments,
head/neck injuries or brain-stem stroke. Dysphagic patients lack the intricate coordination between the
swallowing and the respiration functions, which results in high risk of food aspiration. The goal of this
proposal is to develop a novel and non-invasive acoustic technology that can detect aspiration at the
patients’ bedside without any interference with the normal swallowing of the patients. It can be easily applied
to any dysphasic regardless of the patient’s age or level of cooperation; thus reducing the need for
invasive and expensive current gold standard swallowing assessment techniques. The proposed
technology will diversify the product offering and market breadth of the industrial partner, Sagatech;
itt may also enhance the competitiveness of present Sagatech technologies.

Faculty Supervisor:

Zahra Kazem-Moussavi

Student:

Partner:

Sagatech

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

University of Manitoba

Program: