INRAE scientists have developed an artificial mouth to reproduce and better understand the processing of soft foods.
The device is based on anatomical data measured at Fujita Health University and includes a tongue made of silicone that can be contracted by compressed air and thus imitate the movements of theBODIES in humans. Results published on October 15 in the journal Scientific Reports.
With a growing world population and an aging demographic, one of the challenges for the food industry is to be able to offer innovative products adapted to the needs of people suffering from pathologies linked to agingsuch as sarcopenia or disorders of salivation or swallowing.
To understand the mechanisms at work during the transformation of food in the mouth and thus formulate products that meet the specific needs of different populations, in vitro models exist. But they do not always faithfully reproduce theanatomy of the mouth and movements of the tongue.
It is in this context that scientists from INRAE and their Japanese counterparts from Fujita Health University collaborated to design the first artificial mouth which includes a programmable tongue to simulate the contractions and movements observed in vivo.
The tongue is constructed with a silicone formulated to replicate the elasticity, wettability and roughness of the human tongue. It includes 3 cavities which are inflatable and deflatable by compressed air, in order to precisely reproduce the movements which have been measured by ultrasound in humans.
3D modeling of the device in vitro: the tongue moves thanks to 3 inflatable and deflatable cavities / INRAE - Alejandro Avila-Sierra
This cutting-edge technology was tested with 3 commercially available soft foods: a dessert cream, a chocolate mousse and a chocolate fondant. The results obtained in terms of firmness, adhesive and cohesive properties and viscosities during shearing processes between the tongue and palate are similar to the in vivo data collected.
This device is a new asset for studying the dynamics of oral food processing and scientists are already working on the inclusion of chewing in this device.
Reference:
Avila-Sierra A., Bugarin-Castillo Y., Glumac M. et al. (2024). A first-of-its-kind 3D biomimetic artificial mouth capable of reproducing the oral processing of soft foods. Scientific Reports, DOI: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-73629-9
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