Non-invasive swallowing examination device using hetero-core fiber optic pressure sensor

A decreasing swallowing function with natural aging may cause a pneumonia. It is important for elderly person to measure a swallowing function to prevent swallowing disorder. To examine the swallowing function in a daily living environment, the swallowing examination device was required to be simple and non-invasive for human body. In this paper, we propose the non-invasive swallowing examination device using a hetero-core fiber optic pressure sensor, which can monitor the movement of the laryngeal prominence (LP) during swallowing by the pressure change to the outside of the skin. As a result of the swallowing test, the proposed fiber optic swallowing test device has been indicated to detect the movement of the LP during swallowing.