A thickerner can be prepared in any desired viscosity to provide a foodstuff for training aid and/or examining aid for swallowing impairment, and various products have been introduced on the market. In this study, we designed a test food to be used as an examining aid with videofluorography, by mixing Mousse-Up
® and Baritop
® as the thickener and the contrast medium, respectively. The test food was prepared with various mixture ratios of Mousse-Up
®, water, and Bantop
®. It was then evaluated in such the specificity as texture and contrast as well as its mobility during swallowing.
Results are as follows:
1. The thickerner and contrast medium could be homogenized.
2. Test foods could be prepared in any desired viscosity: liquid, soft, or hard, by changing the ratio between water and the thickerner.
Similar texture of test food to that of yogurt or rice gruel known as a training aid to the swallowing impaired could be prepared. The viscosity did not change when the test food was placed in a refrigerator for hours, thus the test food could be stocked in advance for the case.
3. The contrast efficiency on the videofluorograph was enough to trace the food clearly while the subject swallowed it, and contrast medium added to the test food did not affect the characteristic in viscosity.
4. To evaluate the mobility of test food during swallowing, electrical activities in the suprahyoid muscles were obtained from normal subjects.
When viscosity increased and/or volume of the food increased, the duration between the time when food bolus was formed and the time when the bolus was pushed back to the tongue base increased. Furthermore the bolus became difficult to be swallowed at a stroke. These results suggested that the form and the volume of food should be decided under the consideration of the swallowing function of patients.
The results suggest that the mixture made of Mousse-Up
® and Baritop
® cleared the requirements as a test food for swallowing functions.
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