Background
dysphagia, Radiation-associated dysphagia, radiation-associated dysphagia, cough, head and neck cancer, impaired coughing, impaired swallowing efficiency/safety
DYSPHAGIA, LUNG INFECTION, HEAD AND NECK CANCER
Radiation-associated dysphagia is defined as impaired swallowing efficiency/safety following (chemo)radiotherapy in head and neck cancer patients. In a dysphagia framework, impaired coughing may lead to lung aspiration and fatal lung infection. Although cough efficacy is a predictor of the risk of aspiration, cough investigation is minimal in patients with radiation-associated dysphagia. Because cough is a transient signal, existing software for speech analysis are not appropriate. The goal of our project is to develop an assessment method using acoustic features related to voluntary and reflexive coughs as biomarkers of the risk of penetration/aspiration in patients with radiation-associated dysphagia.