Design of a New Spoon-Thick Consistency Oral Nutrition Supplement Using Rheological Similarity with a Swallow Barium Test Feed

Abstract

Control of food or bolus flow properties is part of several strategies to address aspiration pneumonia in dysphagic patients. An important alternative is the use of prescribed ready-to-use (RTU) oral nutritional supplements (ONS) specially designed for the nutritional support at different stages of dysphagia. However, it is clear that there are significant differences among products designed for the same level or stage of dysphagia. On the other hand, videofluoroscopy has become a key technique for the evaluation of swallowing and, thus, dysphagia. In this study, a new approach for designing RTU ONS products, specifically spoon-thick consistency products, has been carried out. The scientific approach has been based, first, on the characterization of the rheological properties of a standard barium-based commercial product used in videofluoroscopy studies and, then, matching the viscous flow properties of the RTU ONS product accordingly, by taking into consideration both formulation and process conditions. The results obtained clearly suggest that it is possible to obtain an excellent viscous flow behaviour similarity of both swallow barium test feed and RTU ONS produced at industrial scale. In this sense, both linear viscoelasticity properties and non-linear relaxation modulus have to be optimised to obtain the rheological similarity previously mentioned.

Keywords

• dysphagia
• rheology
• oral nutritional supplements
• new product design
• deglutition disorders