Feasibility of the Acoustic/EMG System for the Analysis of Instrumental Food Texture

Abstract

Acoustic/EMG system is presented to better measure the human perception of food texture through the use of sensory systems that monitor the mastication process. The sound transducer and EMG electrode system provide the means by which to measure the oral tactile sensation experienced by both masseter muscles and the auditory signals produced during mastication. Human testing was successfully preformed and signal data was recorded from both the EMG and acoustic sensors. The auditory signals, experienced by the subject during mastication, were recorded by a microphone placed in the ear. Maximum signal, total accumulative power and slope of accumulative power were extracted from the data and strong trends were seen, which corresponded to expected food texture within food groups. These parameters were able to distinguish between all products and similar trends were seen between EMG and acoustic results. The use of an acoustic sensor has the potential to drastically reduce commercial design costs and simplify data interpretation.

Keywords:

• Acoustic
• Auditory
• Electromyography
• EMG
• Food texture

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Assistances provided by Dr. M. Oliver for the use of EMG system, Mr. Greg Northy and Dr. B. Zhao for their assistance in data acquisition and analysis, and Mr. Allan Miller and Mr. Bill Verspagen for their technical help are appreciated.