Kay is proud to introduce the new Digital Swallowing Workstation, Model 7200, the second generation of its acclaimed integrated Swallowing Workstation system for dysphagia assessment and treatment.
According to Robert McClurkin, director of marketing, the new multifunctional workstation now boasts the addition of digital video recording to its impressive array of capabilities, which include visual feedback tools for therapy, physiologic data acquisition and assessment capabilities, and a complete videoendoscopic (FEES®) system for bedside patient assessment. Moreover, McClurkin adds, “The new digital video recording capability will be appreciated by new customers as well as those who wish to upgrade their current systems.”
The digital video module records modified barium and videoendoscopic studies directly to computer storage media for instantaneous retrieval and playback of exams at full video resolution (60 fields/30 frames per second). “The system is equipped with broadcast-quality video-acquisition hardware which provides excellent image quality,” McClurkin explains. “With instant exam retrieval and playback, the time-savings alone for the practicing clinician is a tremendous benefit.”
In addition, the system can record video exams in isolation or in combination with physiologic signals for precise, time-linked data analysis. Also, two video recordings can be loaded at once for side-by-side exam comparisons. The system’s innovative exam archiving capability automates the process of moving recorded video exams to long-term storage-retrieval on DVD-RAM disks.
Because the workstation is modularized, clinicians (and researchers) can configure a system tailored to their needs. For example, a rehabilitation center may elect to purchase just the Swallowing Signals Lab for patient therapy. An acute care facility may be interested only in the FEES system. For modified barium exam recordings, the digital video recording module can be used. Each of these three modules can function, and be purchased, as a separate entity. The complete system is housed on a mobile cart that can be rolled to the clinic, radiology, or to patient bedside.
The new system contains a report generator that includes patient demographics, critical exam findings and comments, and user-selected images in a Microsoft® Word-formatted printout. The report then serves as an objective summary for patient records or referring physicians. Reports, containing images and even video clips, can also be sent electronically to colleagues. Other features include a searchable database of patient/exam information with user-definable database fields.
The Swallowing Signals Lab module contains a custom external hardware module and an array of transducers designed from the ground up for displaying and analyzing key physiologic aspects of swallowing. As McClurkin notes, “The data from each ofthese transducers can be acquired concurrently and displayed in real time. They’re very helpful in the therapy process. Published articles increasingly support the need for instrumentation to assist with dysphagia rehabilitation.” For example, sEMG may help a patient more quickly learn a compensatory swallowing maneuver. Another patient may benefit from feedback which clearly shows the coordination between breathing and swallowing using sEMG with the respiratory phase signal. The tongue transducers can be used effectively for isometric/strengthening exercises. For research and certain clinical tasks (e.g., manofluorography), the physiologic data can be acquired concurrently with video data, enabling frame-by-frame correlation of fluoroscopic (or FEES) and waveform data.
The Digital Swallowing Workstation also contains a complete videoendoscopic system for administering FEES exams at bedside. All components have been selected to provide excellent endoscopic images. The hardware consists of a xenon light source, a flexible endoscope, and a CCD camera with lens adapter. The swallowing cart houses all FEES components along with an optional caddy system for disinfection.
The new digital system, consisting of these separate, but integrated modules, provides clinicians and researchers with a powerful, proven and comprehensive arsenal of capabilities to assess and treat patients with swallowing problems. Numerous peer-reviewed articles in medical journals have validated each of the analysis techniques offered in the system. An extensive bibliography and application notes are available on Kay’s Web site and upon request.
