Evaluation of functional positions of tongue and soft palate with MR imaging: initial clinical results.

Magnetic resonance imaging was used to analyze functional positions of the tongue and soft palate in 10 patients and 10 healthy volunteers. The patients had velopharyngeal insufficiency and/or dysfunction of the tongue. With snapshot FLASH (fast low-angle shot) sequences (data acquisition time, less than 1 second), malpositions of the articulatory apparatus were imaged and recorded for follow-up documentation.