DIRECT MEASUREMENT OF LIP PRESSURE WHEN INGESTING SEMI-LIQUID FOOD

摘要

A spoon sensor to measure lip pressure when slurping liquid food was developed. Several sheet-type sensors of 3 mm diameter were aligned along the back-center line of the bowl of a spoon, at intervals of 5 mm and the Up pressure was evaluated while average adults ingested five samples of semi-liquid foods with varying viscosities. Samples with greater viscosity required correspondingly greater lip pressure and maximum force, as well as a greater impulse or time integral of the force detected by a single sensor. The sum of the force, the impulse, duration and velocity using pressure data from a sequence of four sensors were calculated. Thicker samples required greater force and impulse, and longer duration, but lower velocity. The test subjects slurped semi-liquid foods differently, adapting to viscosity. Mechanorecep-tors in the lips may play an important role in the discrimination of food viscosity.