Measuring Tongue Endurance; Tongue Endurance Normal Values - IOPI MEDICAL 2.3 Manual Del Usuario

Measuring Tongue Endurance

1. Measure and record the patient's Peak pressure as described on page 11.
2. Press the Lights Mode button [ ] and note that the bottom light of the
light array will turn on and the LCD will display the value 50 (kPa).
3. Use the SET MAX arrows [ ] to adjust the value in the LCD display to
50% of the patient's Peak pressure.
NOTE: The top (green) light of the light array will now illuminate when the
patient compresses the Tongue Bulb to 50% of their Peak pressure.
4. Place the IOPI® so that the light array can be seen easily by the patient.
5. Prepare to use the Timer Mode on the IOPI® to measure the length of time
that the patient can illuminate the top (green) light.
NOTE: A stopwatch may be used in place of the IOPI®'s timer feature.
6. To use the Timer Mode, press the Timer Mode button [ ] and notice that
the LCD display will show "0" seconds. If the display does not show "0",
press the Timer Reset button [ ].
7. Position the Tongue Bulb in the patient's mouth as described for tongue
strength measurement.
8. Instruct the patient to "Squeeze the Tongue Bulb until the top (green) light
comes on, and keep it on for as long as possible."
9. When the top (green) light comes on, press the Start Timer button [ ].
10. If a red light turns on for more than a second, remind the patient to
squeeze hard enough to keep the green light on. It is acceptable to
encourage the patient "to keep going as long as possible".
11. If the patient cannot illuminate the green light within about 2 seconds,
press the Stop Timer button [ ] and tell the patient to relax.
12. Record the time shown in the LCD display.
NOTE: Usually this test is done only once per session with each patient.

Tongue Endurance Normal Values

The data is as yet insufficient to assume the statistical normality of the
endurance distributions in the normal population, so an estimate of a normal
probability function is not yet warranted. However, the U.S. studies published
so far suggest an average endurance of about 30 – 35 seconds for the tongue.
Endurance times of 10 seconds or less would be an indication that a patient
probably has low endurance; it may be useful to consider that fatigability
is a contributing factor to this patient's oral motor problems.
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