Development of a novel composite sensor for evaluating lip function

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Physiology
• Sensor Technology

Background:

• Assessing lip function is crucial for diagnosing various medical conditions.
• Existing methods for measuring lip function can be cumbersome or lack comprehensive data.
• There is a need for a user-friendly and accurate tool to evaluate lip muscle activity and pressure dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a novel composite sensor (CS) designed for simultaneous assessment of lip function.
• To determine the accuracy and user-friendliness of the CS in measuring electromyographic (EMG) activity, lip-closing pressure (LP), and intraoral pressure (IP).

Main Methods:

• A novel composite sensor (CS) was used to simultaneously record EMG activity of the upper orbicularis oris muscle (OOM), lip-closing pressure (LP), and intraoral pressure (IP) in 20 healthy subjects.
• Subjects performed standardized lip-closure, blowing, and sucking tasks.
• CS electrode accuracy was validated against conventional surface EMG electrodes, and user-friendliness was assessed via subject ratings.

Main Results:

• The CS demonstrated high correlation (r = 0.77–0.81) with conventional electrodes for upper OOM EMG activity.
• The CS provided a superior signal-to-noise ratio compared to conventional electrodes.
• The CS successfully measured LP and IP across different tasks, with values varying between genders and task types. Subjects rated the CS as user-friendly.

Conclusions:

• The novel composite sensor is accurate and user-friendly for recording OOM EMG activity.
• The CS can simultaneously measure lip-closing pressure and intraoral pressure.
• This sensor represents an effective tool for comprehensive lip function evaluation.