Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 6, 2026
Performing In Vivo and Ex Vivo Electrical Impedance Myography in Rodents
Published on: June 8, 2022
An improved electrical impedance myography (EIM) tongue array for use in clinical trials
Courtney McIlduff1, Sung Yim1, Adam Pacheck1
1Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Objectives:
Electrical impedance myography (EIM) measurements of the tongue could provide valuable information about bulbar dysfunction in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). A prototype tongue depressor EIM array produced gag reflexes. The objectives of this study were to determine the reliability, mean phase values, and tolerability of tongue EIM measurements using a smaller electrode array.
Methods:
Tongue EIM measurements were performed in a total of 31 healthy individuals and four neuromuscular patients with lingual abnormalities. Reliability was assessed by calculating the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and percent difference in addition to performing Bland-Altman analyses. Standard descriptive statistics, including results of a Mann-Whitney test, were also determined.
Results:
At the 50 kHz frequency, the ICCs for intra- and inter-rater reliability were 0.76 with 5.17% difference and 0.78 with 5.34% difference respectively. The mean EIM phase values of healthy participants (11.61° ± 1.00°) and patients (9.87° ± 1.28°) were significantly different (p=0.0051). None of the participants experienced gag reflexes or discomfort.
Conclusions:
The small tongue array provided good inter- and intra-rater reliability, could preliminarily distinguish between healthy and diseased muscle, and was well-tolerated.
Significance:
Biomarker information about tongue health could be more comfortably obtained with a smaller EIM array.
