Metallic Nanoislands on Graphene for Monitoring Swallowing Activity in Head and Neck Cancer Patients

Julian Ramírez, Daniel Rodriquez, Fang Qiao, Julian Warchall, Jasmine Rye, Eden Aklile, Andrew S.C. Chiang, Brandon C. Marin, Patrick P. Mercier, C. K. Cheng, Katherine A. Hutcheson, Eileen H. Shinn, Darren J. Lipomi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

31 Scopus citations

Abstract

There is a need to monitor patients with cancer of the head and neck postradiation therapy, as diminished swallowing activity can result in disuse atrophy and fibrosis of the swallowing muscles. This paper describes a flexible strain sensor comprising palladium nanoislands on single-layer graphene. These piezoresistive sensors were tested on 14 disease-free head and neck cancer patients with various levels of swallowing function: from nondysphagic to severely dysphagic. The patch-like devices detected differences in (1) the consistencies of food boluses when swallowed and (2) dysphagic and nondysphagic swallows. When surface electromyography (sEMG) is obtained simultaneously with strain data, it is also possible to differentiate swallowing vs nonswallowing events. The plots of resistance vs time are correlated to specific events recorded by video X-ray fluoroscopy. Finally, we developed a machine-learning algorithm to automate the identification of bolus type being swallowed by a healthy subject (86.4%. accuracy). The algorithm was also able to discriminate between swallows of the same bolus from either the healthy subject or a dysphagic patient (94.7% accuracy). Taken together, these results may lead to noninvasive and home-based systems for monitoring of swallowing function and improved quality of life.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)5913-5922
Number of pages10
JournalACS Nano
Volume12
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 26 2018

Keywords

  • dysphagia
  • graphene
  • machine learning
  • nanoislands
  • strain sensor
  • wearable sensor

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Materials Science
  • General Engineering
  • General Physics and Astronomy

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