Wearable throat sensor holds promise for stroke rehabilitation

The sensor, developed in the lab of Northwestern University engineering professor John A Rogers, in partnership with Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, joins similar stretchable electronics created by Rogers that can be used in advanced medical care and are portable enough to be worn outside the hospital, even during extreme exercise. The sensors stick directly to the skin, moving with the body and providing detailed health metrics including heart function, muscle activity and quality of sleep.

“Stretchable electronics allow us to see what is going on inside patients’ bodies at a level traditional wearables simply cannot achieve,” Rogers said. “The key is to make them as integrated as possible with the human body.”

Rogers’ new bandage-like throat sensor measures patients’ swallowing ability and patterns of speech. The sensors aid in the diagnosis and treatment of aphasia, a communication disorder associated with stroke.

Tools traditionally used by speech-language therapists to monitor patients’ speech function – such as microphones – cannot distinguish between patients’ voices and ambient noise.