By Ruth Beran
Maggie-Lee Huckabee, and two treatments used for dysphagia: an ultrasound image and manometry
Swallowing activates 32 paired muscles, is controlled by seven cranial nerves, and happens in the space of only about 800 milliseconds. Most people don't even think about swallowing. But for those people who've lost the ability, it is something they think about all the time, and it's not an easy process to regain.
University of Canterbury'sMaggie-Lee Huckabee and her team are helping people with swallowing difficulties using various techniques including ultrasound, manometry, and video fluoroscopy, otherwise known as motion x-ray. The video below demonstrates video fluoroscopy for someone swallowing normally, followed by someone with dysphagia.
Ruth Beran goes to the Swallowing Rehabilitation Research Laboratory at the Van der Veer Institute in Christchurch to discover what dysphagia is, how it's treated, and to meet stroke patient Derek Chapman, who hasn't been able to swallow for months, but is making progress.
