Patent ID: 8267875
Filing Date: 2012-09-18
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. A method for segmentation and analysis of dual-axis accelerometry signals for the indication of problematic swallowing events comprising the following steps: a. providing an accelerometer proximate to a swallowing location for detecting dual-axis movements and respective time durations for said detected dual-axis movements and for generating dual-axis accelerometry signals having onsets and offsets; b. transmitting said generated dual-axis accelerometry signals to a data storage device for storage; c. analyzing the generated dual-axis accelerometry signals to determine swallowing segments and non-swallowing segments; d. identifying a set of swallowing signals from the generated dual-axis accelerometry signals; e. comparing said set of swallowing signals with known attributes of healthy swallowing; and, f. identifying a subset of problematic swallows wherein step c includes implementing a sequential segmentation algorithm using fuzzy c-means optimization; wherein step d includes identification of anterior-posterior (A-P) direction vibrations and superior-inferior (S-I) direction vibrations comprising the set of swallowing signals; wherein the implementation of the algorithm includes the steps of: i. forming a first indicator function for a non-swallowing segment in said A-P direction; ii. forming a second indicator function for a swallowing segment in the A-P direction; iii. forming a first indicator function for a non-swallowing segment in the S-I direction; iv. forming a second indicator function for a swallowing segment in the S-I direction; v. applying said fuzzy c-means optimization for determining the time boundaries for each of said swallowing and non-swallowing segments; vi. multiplying said first indicator function in the A-P direction by said first indicator function in the S-I direction for noise reduction; and, vii. multiplying said second indicator function in the A-P direction by said second indicator function in the S-I direction for noise reduction.