Joan Ma
drjoanma.bsky.social
Joan Ma
@drjoanma.bsky.social
Senior Lecturer in Speech and Language Therapy, Queen Margaret University. Interested in the application of ultrasound in swallowing, motor speech disorders and speech prosody.
Attending many great talks at #ESSD2025 in Athens, and a great opportunity to present our work on using the compartmental tongue theory to reshape how we quantify tongue movement in swallowing.
October 10, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Curious about what happens when you are swallowing. Come join us this in-person workshop at the Curious Festival @royalsoced.bsky.social and see your own swallow in real time!
rse.org.uk/event/swallo...
@qmuniversity.bsky.social
Swallowing in a new light: how ultrasound could transform care
In this hands-on, interactive workshop, you'll explore how ultrasound is opening a new window into the science of swallowing.
rse.org.uk
July 22, 2025 at 8:09 AM
Thanks to the funding from the Royal Society of Edinburgh, I was able to spend a year focusing on developing the SwallowVision project. Found out more about this project here:

t.co/fPhvrirn0Q
https://rse.org.uk/ultrasound-evaluation-of-swallowing-clinical-feasibility-and-stakeholders-engagement/
t.co
June 12, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Working with the new tongue tracker provides us with new perspectives on how we can quantify tongue movement in #swallowing and how it can be applied to #dysphagia assessment, management and outcome measures.
Video corresponding to above glossogram. Red line is midsagittal tongue contour automatically estimated using #DeepLabCut Blue line indicates base of mandible to hyoid and purple line indicates base of mandible to short tendon. In collaboration with @drjoanma.bsky.social
May 30, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Reposted by Joan Ma
Glossogram with dark red indicating constriction and blue diagonal (tongue compartment contracted) demonstrating peristaltic transfer of water bolus from oral-pharyngeal. This is easiest to explain as sequential extension of neuromuscular compartments of the tongue.
May 27, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Reposted by Joan Ma
👇Paper by @drjoanma.bsky.social et al using Ultrasound to evaluate hyoid function. Differences between continuous and discrete swallows in healthy participants. Very interesting to see this area of development with SLT.
May 11, 2025 at 7:39 AM
Reposted by Joan Ma
🆓🆕🔓 In @ashajournals.bsky.social @drjoanma.bsky.social & @awrench.bsky.social (the bloke's a legend!) 2025. The Application of Ultrasound Evaluation of #Swallowing to the Analysis of Hyoid Kinematics in Healthy Swallows. JSLHR, 68(5), 2205–2217. doi.org/10.1044/2025...
🦋 #bskySPEECHIES #slpeeps
The Application of Ultrasound Evaluation of Swallowing to the Analysis of Hyoid Kinematics in Healthy Swallows
Purpose: Using ultrasound as an adjunct tool for swallowing assessment has gained significant momentum in recent years, with research gaps in are...
doi.org
May 9, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Reposted by Joan Ma
This new #OpenAccess study outlines the recording protocol of Ultrasound Evaluation of Swallowing, providing details on equipment specification, recording procedures, and image acquisition.

@drjoanma.bsky.social
The Application of Ultrasound Evaluation of Swallowing to the Analysis of Hyoid Kinematics in Healthy Swallows
Purpose: Using ultrasound as an adjunct tool for swallowing assessment has gained significant momentum in recent years, with research gaps in are...
on.asha.org
April 8, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Our study on ‘The Application of Ultrasound Evaluation of Swallowing to the Analysis of Hyoid Kinematics in Healthy Swallows’ is now out, in it we discuss our protocol & hyoid analysis.

🔗 pubs.asha.org/doi/10.1044/...
The Application of Ultrasound Evaluation of Swallowing to the Analysis of Hyoid Kinematics in Healthy Swallows
Purpose: Using ultrasound as an adjunct tool for swallowing assessment has gained significant momentum in recent years, with research gaps in are...
pubs.asha.org
April 8, 2025 at 5:25 AM
Thank you to Dynamic Earth for having us as part of their career fair. We had a great time engaging with the young learners on the role of speech and language therapists and using ultrasound to visualise their speech and swallowing.
March 12, 2025 at 3:16 PM
👉Considering a PhD as your next step in your career development?
👉Interested in how ultrasound could be used to enhance SLT clinical practice?
The PhD bursary application is open until 14 March. Get in touch if you are interested.
February 12, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Reposted by Joan Ma
Unique opportunity to study Ultrasound in swallowing! See below for details 👇👇
January 22, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Calling for SLTs thinking about research! PhD bursary competition with an opportunity to pursue a project on #ultrasound and #speech and language therapy is now open.
qmu.ac.uk/study-here/p...
Get in touch!
January 21, 2025 at 3:10 PM