A physical figure model of tongue muscles

To help understanding tongue shape and motions, a physical figure model of tongue muscles using viscoelastic material of urethane rubber gel were made by improving previous models. Compare to previous shape tongue models that had been made and presented, the new model is constructed from tongue body (consisting of Transversus linguae, Verticalis linguae, Longitudinalis linguae superior, and Longitudinalis linguae inferior), and individual extrinsic tongue muscles (consisting of Genioglossus anterior, Genio glossus posterior, Hyoglossus, Styloglossus, and Palatoglossus) parts. Therefore, each muscle’s shape, starting and ending points, and relation to other muscles and organs inside mouth are more understandable than previous ones. As the model is made from viscoelastic material similar to human skin, reshaping and moving tongue are possible by pulling or pushing some parts of the tongue muscle by hand, that is, tongue shape and motion simulations by hand can be done. The proposed model is useful for speec...