Gustatory interface for operative assessment and taste decoding in patients with tongue cancer
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Taste, a pivotal sense modality, plays a fundamental role in discerning flavors and evaluating the potential harm of food, thereby contributing to human survival, physical and mental health. Patients with tongue cancer may experience a loss of taste following extensive surgical resection with flap reconstruction. Here, we designed a gustatory interface that enables the non-invasive detection of tongue electrical activities for a comprehensive operative assessment. Moreover, it decodes gustatory information from the reconstructed tongue without taste buds. Our gustatory interface facilitates the recording and analysis of electrical activities on the tongue, yielding an electrical mapping across the entire tongue surface, which delineates the safe margin for surgical management and assesses flap viability for postoperative structure monitoring and prompt intervention. Furthermore, the gustatory interface helps patients discern tastes with an accuracy of 97.8%. Our invention offers a promising approach to clinical assessment and management and holds potential for improving the quality of life for individuals with tongue cancer.
Source: Nature Communications
Institutions: Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Shanghai Stomatological Hospital, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Transducer Technology, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Guangdong Institute of Intelligence Science and Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $6,790
OpenAlex ID: W4403510266