Using swallow sound and surface electromyography to determine the severity of dysphagia in patients with myasthenia gravis

One of the main symptoms of patients with myasthenia gravis is dysphagia, which will reduce the patients’ nutritional absorption and influences the quality of living. The activity of swallowing involves interaction and coordination between a variety of muscles and the nervous system. It is, therefore, difficult for clinicians to detect dysphagia. Furthermore, the symptoms of myasthenia gravis are unstable, making clinical judgment troublesome. How to accurately diagnose the severity of dysphagia in the clinic has become an important research topic. This paper proposes a dysphagia severity discrimination system for patients with myasthenia gravis. It uses a non-invasive Adam's apple microphone and surface electromyography to collect the swallow signal generated by sound and muscle activity when the patient swallows water. The system then extracts features to discriminate the severity of dysphagia during each swallow phase. The experimental results show that the system can provide concrete features for clinicians to diagnose dysphagia in myasthenia gravis patients.

► A dysphagia severity discrimination system is proposed for patients with myasthenia gravis. ► We use a non-invasive Adam's apple microphone and surface electromyography to collect the swallow signal generated by sound and muscle activity when the patient swallows water. ► We extract features to discriminate the severity of dysphagia during each swallow phase. ► Data were collected from 26 myasthenia gravis patients in the Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su memorial hospital in Taipei.