Matsuda Toshi, Mysore Ganesh Pavana, Brown Robert, Grosso Vince, Doty Richard L
Research Division, Sensonics International, Haddon Heights, NJ 08035, United States.
Smell and Taste Center, Department of Otorhinolaryngology: Head and Neck Surgery, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States.
Chem Senses. 2023 Jan 1;48. doi: 10.1093/chemse/bjad009.
Electrogustometry (EGM) is a practical way to test taste. It is typically performed using unipolar electrodes, with the anode on the tongue and the cathode on the hand, forearm, or neck. This results in electric current passing through nontaste tissues and adds a level of impracticality to its clinical application. We compared, using a repeated measures counterbalanced design, anodal thresholds from a unipolar electrode to those of a unique bipolar electrode in which the anode and cathode are contiguously located. Both sides of the anterior tongue were assessed in 70 subjects, as were the effects of age and sex. Nonparametric analyses were performed. The median threshold of the bipolar electrode's central disk (2.49 µA) did not differ from that of the unipolar electrode (2.96 µA) (P = 0.84). On average, older persons exhibited higher thresholds. No significant sex or tongue side effects were evident. Interestingly, when the annular (donut-shaped) bipolar electrode served as the anode, the threshold was higher than that of the other electrodes (5.19 µA; Ps < 0.001). This conceivably reflected lessened summation of activity among adjacent afferents and partial sampling of tongue regions with fewer taste buds. Correlations among all EGM thresholds were nominally higher for women than for men, ranging from 0.83 to 0.85 for women and 0.54 to 0.67 for men; all Ps < 0.001. This study validates the use of a bipolar electrode for assessing taste function, averting movement of current through nontaste-related tissues and making such testing safer and more practical.
电味觉测试（EGM）是一种实用的味觉测试方法。它通常使用单极电极进行，阳极置于舌头上，阴极置于手部、前臂或颈部。这会导致电流通过非味觉组织，给其临床应用增添了一定的不实用性。我们采用重复测量平衡设计，比较了单极电极的阳极阈值与独特双极电极（阳极和阴极相邻）的阳极阈值。对70名受试者的舌前部两侧进行了评估，并分析了年龄和性别的影响。进行了非参数分析。双极电极中心盘的中位阈值（2.49微安）与单极电极的中位阈值（2.96微安）无差异（P = 0.84）。平均而言，年长者的阈值更高。未发现明显的性别或舌侧效应。有趣的是，当环形（甜甜圈形状）双极电极作为阳极时，阈值高于其他电极（5.19微安；P值<0.001）。这可能反映了相邻传入神经之间活动总和的减少以及对味蕾较少的舌区的部分采样。女性所有EGM阈值之间的相关性名义上高于男性，女性的相关性范围为0.83至0.85，男性为0.54至0.67；所有P值<0.001。本研究验证了使用双极电极评估味觉功能的有效性，避免了电流通过与味觉无关的组织，使这种测试更安全、更实用。
