In spite of electrogustometry having been in existence since the 1930s, there is no state of the art instrument to assess the electrogustometric threshold. A state of the art electrogustometer has been designed and constructed and tested for reliability and repeatability. This is based on embedded digital technology and is a semi-automatic, battery-powered portable instrument. Physical factors such as electrode area and stimulus duration affect the taste threshold but there are no recommended standards for these factors. Studies have been conducted to ascertain a recommended standard – a circular stainless steel electrode area of 28.5 mm2 and a stimulus duration of 2 seconds. While performing the test-retest assessment of the Sussex Electrogustometer, the new instrument, an anomaly was observed. Upon further investigation it was concluded that it was caused by alcohol consumed by a subject prior to the retest. Elaborate experiments were designed with the help of a neurologist and psychologist to understand the immediate effect of alcohol on taste for non-alcoholics. The results indicated an immediate improvement of taste for lower concentrations of alcohol and a delayed improvement for higher concentration. The studies were extended to understand the immediate effect of anaesthetics and smoking on taste which showed that taste deteriorated as expected. The new machine was used successfully in the clinical environment by local doctors and a report on their findings has also been included within this thesis.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:554521 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Banerjee, Anirban |
| Publisher | University of Sussex |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/6957/ |
Page generated in 0.0016 seconds