Assessment of a New Tool to Measure Tongue Muscle Function (TOM1)

May 28, 2026 updated by: Université Catholique de Louvain
The Iowa Oral Performance Instrument (IOPI) is currently the reference tool for assessing tongue muscle function, measuring the pressure exerted by the tongue on an air-filled bulb. However, several limitations reduce its precision and clinical relevance. To overcome these, the TOngue Manometer (TOM) has been developed. This crossover study compares the two devices in healthy adults, hypothesizing that the TOM's interface will enable participants to produce higher maximal tongue pressure and endurance values, closer to their ground truth.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

58

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • Belgium
      • Brussels, Belgium, 1200
        • Institut de Recherche Expérimentale et Clinique (IREC) - UCLouvain; Lung, Nose, and Skin (LUNS) lab
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Pierre Cnockaert, MSc

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Being a healthy adult aged 18 to 65 years old
  • Being able to understand and speak French

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Being diagnosed with a cardiorespiratory or neuromuscular disease
  • Being diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome
  • Any reason preventing the participant from completing the measurement protocol (e.g., oral pain, severe cognitive impairment, lack of cooperation, illiteracy)
  • Being involved in an oropharyngeal rehabilitation program
  • Having dysphagia

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: TOM session
Device: TOngue Manometer (TOM) device
New, lab-made device
Active Comparator: IOPI session
Device: IOPI
The device currently identified as gold standard for tongue muscles assessment

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Tongue Pmax in elevation (pElev)
Time Frame: Throughout the entire study, approximately during 14 months
Tongue maximal pressure (kPa) in elevation, either with the TOM or the IOPI, depending on the visit and the randomization order
Throughout the entire study, approximately during 14 months
Tongue endurance in elevation (eElev)
Time Frame: Throughout the entire study, approximately during 14 months
Endurance time (sec.), i.e., time during which the tongue can sustain 50% of its Pmax in elevation, measured either with the TOM or the IOPI, depending on the visit and the randomization order
Throughout the entire study, approximately during 14 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Body mass index (kg/m^2)
Time Frame: Throughout the entire study, approximately during 14 months
Throughout the entire study, approximately during 14 months
Mouth, tongue, and face assessment test (through MBLF test)
Time Frame: Throughout the entire study, approximately during 14 months
This test (MBLF test, for 'test de motricité bucco-linguo-faciale') features an assessment of several muscles (e.g., lips, tongue, and face area) that are assessed on a scale from 0 (no contraction / severe asymmetry) to 3 (normal contraction / complete symmetry).
Throughout the entire study, approximately during 14 months
Mouth breathing questionnaire
Time Frame: Throughout the entire study, approximately during 14 months
A score 0-3 suggests high likelihood of habitual nose breathing; 4-7 a suspicion of mouth breathing; 8 or higher a high likelihood of habitual mouth breathing
Throughout the entire study, approximately during 14 months
Tongue thickness (POCUS)
Time Frame: Throughout the entire study, approximately during 14 months
A submental and neck ultrasound will be performed to assess tongue muscles thickness (cm)
Throughout the entire study, approximately during 14 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Université Catholique de Louvain

Investigators

  • Study Chair: William Poncin, PhD, Université Catholique de Louvain

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

May 30, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

August 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 5, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 28, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

June 4, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 4, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 28, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • TOM1

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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