Viscous and Elastic Efficacies in Thickening Liquid Foods for Dysphagia Patients: Examination Using Newtonian and Shear-Thinning Viscoelastic Liquids.

A role of the shear-thinning property of thickened liquids used for supporting the dysphagia patients was examined utilizing the rheologically various properties of test liquids. The test liquids prepared through exploration of viscoelastic liquids were a Newtonian viscous liquid and non-Newtonian ones whose shear-thinning levels were different. For these test liquids, the flow experiments were performed with the swallowing model apparatus. The viscous effect in the flows in the apparatus was estimated by Stokes' law of resistance. The elastic effect, in other words, the elastic efficacy in thickening liquid foods, was revealed to be larger with the intensified shear-thinning property.