| Objective: To study the repeatability of tongue motion parameters by B+M ultrasound in different swallowing tasks. Methods: A total of 18 healthy volunteers were recruited. Tongue movements parameters, including the amplitude and velocity of IIa, the duration of oral stage, during saliva swallowing and 5-mL water swallowing were collected by B+M ultrasound at day 1 and day 3 respectively. The difference between the data measured in D1 and D3 was compared and test-retest reliability was analyzed. Results: In saliva swallowing task, the intra-correlation coefficients (ICC) of the vertical lingual amplitude was 0.878, that of lingual velocity was 0.817, and that of oral stage duration was 0.352. In 5-mL water swallowing task, the ICC of amplitude, velocity and duration was 0.901, 0.744 and 0.881 respectively. Conclusion: There was a good reliability in lingual amplitude detecting by B+M-mode ultrasound, which might be a reliable way to assess tongue motion in different swallowing tasks. |
