Help for dysphagia

A cheap, self-sensing device that accurately measures food consistency to help control the diet of elderly people who have difficulty swallowing is being developed by researchers at

(UCL).

People with dysphagia — disorders that affect a person's ability to swallow — as a result of a stroke or cancer of the head or neck, are prescribed fluid foods of a particular thickness so they can be swallowed safely.

At present, the required viscosity of food, which varies from person to person, is prescribed by speech and language therapists and interpreted by nurses using subjective terms such as 'honey thick'. The new device would enable consistencies to be defined exactly.

'A few years ago, I made a little gadget that was able to move and provide force, and at the same time it could sense how much force it was applying and how much it was moving without any force or displacement sensors,' said Dr Ben Hanson at UCL. 'It is basically a coil of wire and a magnet, and not much else.'