Electric stimulation approaches to the restoration and rehabilitation of swallowing: a review.

In recent years, there has been a proliferation of interest in the use of electric stimulation for the treatment of swallowing disorders. This review explores both the rationale and existing evidence for electric stimulation approaches to swallowing rehabilitation. Although this is an exciting area of research which holds promise for future clinically relevant technology and/or therapy, a critical analysis of the existing literature will be presented to support the argument that implementation of electric stimulation in clinical swallowing rehabilitation settings still remains pre-mature.