2002 Volume 6 Issue 1 Pages 9-18
It is important for dysphagic patients to enjoy their meals safely．Therefore，it is essential to determine how their rneals should be presented in order to suit the patients’ swallowing functions．Each patient's swallowing functions and food textures must be synthesized and evaluated．We devised a new method for observing bolus transport using ultrasound Duplex-Doppler analysis．This study was aimed at examining the validity of the fixed quantity analysis of this new method．
The subjects were 11 healthy adult men．Three types of food with different food textures were used．We tested these foods’ textures beforehand （hardness stress，adhesiveness，cohesive levels， elastic modulus， coefficient of viscosity，and viscosity.) The depicted depiction conditions and analysis methods were all in accordance with our new observation method.
The following results were obtained: The coefficient of variation between individuals was small in the values obtained from the experimental subjects．(This was thought to be because these are values which can be subjected to fixed quantity analysis.) The clearest，most reliable data were best shown in the analysis between food texture and fastest velocity；the next reliable data were between food texture and，in descending order，mean acceleration，inflow time，and fastest velocity attainment time． From the results of the texture tests and our new method，it is thought that adhesiveness affects velocity and mean acceleration，and the coefficient of viscosity affects inflow time．
The results suggest that this inspection method can be used for fixed quantity analysis of bolus transport corresponding to differences in food texture．A standardized system of inspection related to texture could be developed with further study involving more precise characteristics of different foods and with a wider range of subjects．This new method could serve as a basic inspection method for food textures and their effects on patients’ swallowing functions．
