A total glossectomy can cause communication, swallowing, and chewing issues for oral or oropharyngeal cancer patients. This project attempted to develop a self-contained prosthetic tongue that could assist in swallowing by transporting food from the front to the back of the oral cavity. Current tongue prostheses are used for cosmetic reasons, while there are few solutions that address feeding issues that glossectomy patients may face. One example is a glossectomy spoon that inhibits a user’s ability to swallow food in an efficient or natural way. Past iterations of the prosthetic used pneumatic, electromagnetic, or mechanical linkage actuation methods and experienced a number of limitations, including the ability to move the bolus, to fit within the oral cavity, and to require surgical implementation. The previous linkage design successfully moved the bolus, however, it lacked miniaturization. After several ideations of designs, it was determined that a fewer number of links supported by a return spring system with a silicone pad would be ideal to move the bolus from the front to the back of the oral cavity. This apparatus would then be housed inside a retainer along with the entire control board, the motor and gear system, and eventually the battery. To ensure the system was operating in an accurate environment, an oral cavity simulation was developed as well as a fatigue testing of over 250 iterations of all portions of the device to ensure that it would maintain usability over long periods of time. This paper will describe the developmental procedures, outcomes, challenges, and future work.

• This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

Creator

• Voorhees, Marc
• Barthold, Tatyana
• Williams, Declan
• Soucy, Hope
• Ufuah, Luese

Subject

• Well-Being
• Sustainability
• Innovation
• Food
• Health
• Project-Based Learning

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• E-project-050323-145711
• 108476

Advisor

• Albrecht, Dirk
• Radhakrishnan, Pradeep

Year

• 2023

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• 3 - Good Health and Well-being
• 9 - Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Date created

• 2023-05-03

Resource type

• Major Qualifying Project

Major

• Biomedical Engineering
• Robotics Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering

Source

• E-project-050323-145711

Rights statement

• In Copyright

Last modified

• 2023-06-12