Swallowing Research Group

Impaired swallowing (dysphagia) affects 4% of adults of all ages and is a common consequence of neuromuscular disease (such as motor neuron disease or stroke). Dysphagia is associated with aspiration pneumonia, dehydration, malnutrition, and increased mortality.

Our goal is to improve health outcomes, the standard of care, and the quality of life of people living with swallowing disorders. Our vision is to implement diagnostic tools that offer the highest quality, objective assessment of oropharyngeal and oesophageal physiology and to apply these methods to test the efficacy of new and existing therapies in dysphagia management.

OUR RESEARCH

We are a world leading multidisciplinary group of physiologists, speech pathologists, gastroenterologists, and otolaryngologists focused on swallowing and oesophageal motility disorders. Through our research and innovations, we generate new knowledge about the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of dysphagia. We work across disciplinary boundaries to develop novel approaches to assessing swallowing function using pressure- and bolus-flow based analyses, evaluate the potential for non-invasive brain stimulation and behavioural interventions to improve swallowing function and estimate the prevalence of dysphagia in various clinical populations.

Research projects

The Swallow Gateway Project: An online web-application used to perform state-of-the-art analysis of pharyngeal high-resolution manometry swallowing tests.
Palatable and functional nutrition and safety for dysphagia patients: Addressing current inadequacies in the nutrition, palatability, and safety of thickened food for dysphagia patients, through the development of a new beverage thickening formulation.
Non-Invasive Therapy for Presbyphagia: Evaluating dysphagia due to aging (called ‘presbyphagia’) which occurs because of altered neurology mechanisms and muscle compliance and strength.
Cricopharyngeal Myotomy for Neurogenic Dysphagia: Cricopharyngeal myotomy by Per-Oral Endoscopic Myotomy (“C-POEM”) is safe to perform leading to both physiological and symptomatic improvements in appropriately selected patients
Pharyngeal Augmentation for Dysphagia (PAD): PAD is a procedure designed to improve tongue propulsion during swallowing in patients following Head and Neck Cancer treatment to improve quality of life.
Epidemiology of Dysphagia: Through analyses of very large data sets, we evaluate how commonly dysphagia occurs in various clinical populations, e.g. the acutely ill or following stroke.
Free Water Protocols and Oral Hygiene in Dysphagia: Access to un-thickened water is critical for preventing dehydration-related complications in dysphagia. Our research explores the role of Free Water Protocols and oral hygiene in preventing dysphagia-related complications.
Dysphagia in Motor Neuron Disease (MND): Dysphagia is a common consequence of MND and often occurs alongside cognitive and behavioural changes. Our research evaluates how cognitive and behavioural changes affect dysphagia management and patients’ lived experiences.
Biomechanical characterisation of dysphagia in clinical cohorts: Presentation of dysphagia differs according to underlying aetiology. This project aims to identify the contributing mechanisms for dysphagia in specific clinical cohorts, including: sleep apnoea, critically-ill (following extubation, tracheostomy insitu), post Head and Neck Cancer (HNC) treatment, and unilateral vocal fold palsy.

Featured publications:

Omari TI, Ciucci M, Gozdzikowska K, Hernández E, Hutcheson K, Jones C, Maclean J, Nativ-Zeltzer N, Plowman E, Rogus-Pulia N, Rommel N, O'Rourke A. High-Resolution Pharyngeal Manometry and Impedance: Protocols and Metrics-Recommendations of a High-Resolution Pharyngeal Manometry International Working Group. Dysphagia. 2020;35:281-295.
Cock C, Omari T. Diagnosis of Swallowing Disorders: How We Interpret Pharyngeal Manometry. Curr Gastroenterol Rep. 2017;19(3):11.
Omari T, Schar M. High-resolution manometry: what about the pharynx?, Current Opinion in Otolaryngology & Head and Neck Surgery: December 2018 - Volume 26 - Issue 6 - p 382-391.
Omari T. (2017) Manometry. In: Vandenplas Y. (eds) Gastroesophageal Reflux in Children. Springer, Cham. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60678-1_6
McIntyre M, Doeltgen S, Shao C, Chimunda T. The incidence and clinical outcomes of postextubation dysphagia in a regional critical care setting. Australian Critical Care. 2022 Mar;35(2):107-112.
doi: 10.1016/j.aucc.2021.03.008.
Murray J, Walker C, Doeltgen S. Implementation of free water protocols in acute care: An observation of practice. International Journal of Speech-Language pathology. 2021 Aug 3;1-11. doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2021.1955973
Francis R, Attrill S, Doeltgen S. The impact of cognitive decline in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis on swallowing. A scoping review. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. 2021 Dec;23(6):604-613.
doi: 10.1080/17549507.2021.1894235.
Schar MS, Omari TI, Woods, CW, Ferris L, Doetlgen S, Kushington, K, Kontos A, Athanasiadis T, Cock C, Cahi Coetzer C-L, Eckert DJ, Ooi EH (2021). Altered swallowing biomechanics in people with moderate-severe obstructive sleep apnea. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 17 (1), 1793-1803.

Resources

Swallow Gateway

Development of Swallow Gateway

Swallowing Neurorehabilitation Research Lab

Caring Futures Institute

GROUP MEMBERS

View profile

Professor Taher Omari

Prof Omari is widely known for innovative and transformative research within the field of neuro-gastroenterology and motility. His research has advanced understanding of pathophysiology and treatments for common motility diseases and has improved diagnosis through enhanced understanding of swallowing physiology and biomechanics.

This work has led to the invention and patenting of methods to process complex biomechanical data from catheter-based tests including derivation of novel analytics that described swallowing physiology and predict swallow safety (lung aspiration risk) without radiology. This diagnostic technology was deployed for routine use via the subscription-based web application – Swallow Gateway.