Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 26, 2025
In Vivo Evaluation of the Mechanical and Viscoelastic Properties of the Rat Tongue
Published on: July 6, 2017
In vivo muscle conduction study of the tongue using a multi-electrode tongue depressor
Xuesong Luo1, Hilda Victoria Gutierrez Pulido2, Seward Brian Rutkove2
1Sanchez Research Lab, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA.
Objective:
To test a novel technology for assessment of the volume conduction properties (VCPs) of the tongue. These properties are electrophysiological data that might reflect alterations in patients with tongue involvement.
Methods:
Seven healthy individuals were self-measured. The depressor was placed on the surface of the anterior tongue. Directional differences of VCPs were determined with standard descriptive statistics.
Results:
Conductivity in longitudinal direction was larger than in transverse direction at 16 (p < 0.05), 32 (p < 0.05), 64 (p < 0.01), and 128 kHz (p < 0.01). No differences were found in relative permittivity. The intraclass correlation was 0.778 and 0.771, respectively.
Conclusions:
Our technology provides, for the first time, VCPs of the healthy human tongue.
Significance:
Tongue VCPs are standard electrophysiological, quantitative and objective data reflecting ionic content and membrane integrity which could find value for diagnostic purposes and treatment monitoring.
