Modeling the motion of the internal tongue from tagged cine-MRI images

A new technique, tagged Cine-Magnetic Resonance Imaging (tMRI), was used to develop a mechanical model that represented local, homogeneous, internal tongue deformation during speech. The goal was to infer muscle activity within the tongue from tissue deformations seen on tMRI. Measurements were made in three sagittal slices (left, middle, right) during production of the syllable /ka/. Each slice was superimposed with a grid of tag lines, and the approximately 40 tag line intersections were tracked at 7 time-phases during the syllable. A local model, similar to a finite element analysis, represented planar stretch and shear between the consonant and vowel at 110 probed locations within the tongue. Principal strains were calculated at these locations and revealed internal compression and extension patterns from which inferences could be drawn about the activities of the Verticalis, Hyoglossus, and Superior Longitudinal muscles, among others.