The tongue stops here: Ultrasound imaging of the palate

This letter presents a method for imaging the palate and extracting the palate contour from ultrasound images. Ultrasound does not usually capture the palate because the air at the tongue surface reflects the ultrasound beam back to the transducer. However, when the tongue touches the palate during a swallow, the ultrasound beam is transmitted through the soft tissue until it reaches and is reflected by the palate. In combination with tongue contours, the palate contour has the potential for disambiguation of the tongue surface, registration of images within and across subjects, and calculation of phonetically important measures.