The Pulse

Champions Corner - Swallowing Center at the University of South Florida (USF)

Posted by ACP on Jun 24, 2019 5:30:46 PM

"Patients enjoy the features and 'seeing' their successes over time. Using the Synchrony sEMG allows us to obtain more reliable data for a scientific approach to therapy.”

Dr. Stephanie Watts and Joy Gaziano, practicing at the Swallowing Center at the University of South Florida (USF) always strive to provide high quality care by using a multidisciplinary approach to dysphagia assessment and treatment. They are consistently seeking materials, methods, and equipment to enhance their clinical outcomes for the patients they treat. Dr. Watts and Joy feel the Synchrony sEMG unit has provided the necessary tools to implement the skilled therapy in which the Swallowing Center at USF is known. They report an excellent experience using the current features provided with the Synchrony sEMG unit. The large screen and the dynamic colorful display provide high quality, salient biofeedback for patients. In addition, the unique feature of the work/rest cycles allows them to approach difficult to train swallowing concepts such as swallowing command initiation and muscle relaxation. The system is easy to use and it is simple to record and track patient data over time. They state, “We are pleased with the consistency of data recording across therapy sessions. Patients enjoy the features and “seeing” their successes over time. Using the Synchrony sEMG allows us to obtain more reliable data for a scientific approach to therapy”.

Dr. Stephanie Watts is an Assistant Professor and clinical Speech Pathologist at the University of South Florida (USF). Stephanie is a clinician, researcher, and educator specializing in the area of swallowing assessment and treatment. Her research has garnered her several awards including first place in health sciences at the Statewide Graduate Student Research Symposium and the Springer Travel Award Scholarship from Dysphagia Research Society.

Joy Gaziano is a clinical Speech Pathologist who is a Board Certified Specialist in Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders (BCS-S) from ASHA. She has taught the Graduate Dysphagia course at USF. She has participated in multi-institutional research assessing efficacy of swallowing intervention strategies and is active in the Center for Swallowing Disorders research initiatives and has authored several publications including journal articles and chapters in books.

Topics: Dysphagia