Development of a Non-invasive Device for Swallow Screening in Patients at Risk of Oropharyngeal Dysphagia: Results from a Prospective Exploratory Study.
Catriona M Steele, Rajat Mukherjee, Juha M Kortelainen and 14 others
PMID 30612234WHAT IT FOUND
A neck sensor device detected unsafe swallows on thin liquids with high sensitivity, missing only 10% of cases.
It over-detected risk in 40% of patients. This device is not yet validated for clinical use and cannot replace a standard swallowing assessment.
Key findings
01For thin liquids, the device correctly identified 90.4% of participants with impaired swallowing safety but falsely flagged 40% of those without the impairment.
02The device also detected impaired swallowing efficiency (residue) with approximately 80% sensitivity and 60% specificity across liquid consistencies.
03Silent aspiration (aspiration without outward signs) was found in 7.5% of participants on thin liquids, a group traditional observation-based screening often misses.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
This was an exploratory study to develop algorithms, not a validation study. The device has not been tested in a new, independent patient sample. The study excluded patients with neck surgery, tracheostomy, cancer, or congenital causes of dysphagia, so results do not apply to these groups. The high false-positive rate (40%) means the device flags many patients who do not actually have swallowing impairment, which could lead to unnecessary instrumental assessments if used as a standalone screen. The device was trained on data from a specific population and may not generalize to all patients with dysphagia risk.
Declared interests
The study was funded by Nestlé Health Science, a company that produces nutritional products and thickeners.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume this device is ready for clinical use or that it replaces a speech-language pathologist's evaluation. The study was exploratory and the device has not been validated in a separate population. Furthermore, the high false-positive rate means it often flags safe swallows as unsafe, so it cannot currently be used to make definitive clinical decisions without instrumental confirmation.