ORAL MUSCLE COMPOSITION DETECTION AND TRAINING

1 .- 32 . (canceled)

33 . An apparatus for determining a composition of one or more muscles of the mouth of a user, the apparatus comprising a mouthpiece including one or more electrodes for applying electrical stimulation to one or more muscles of the mouth of a user and a sensing assembly configured or configurable to determine or measure, in use, the composition of a tongue of the user.

34 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising an impedance sensor.

35 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the impedance sensor comprises a sensing assembly configured to evaluate the composition of the tongue at multiple frequencies up to 100 kHz.

36 . The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the sensing assembly is configured to evaluate the tongue composition at a single frequency overtime.

37 . The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the sensing assembly is configured to evaluate the tongue composition at multiple frequencies over time during a sampling window between 0 to 90 seconds or longer.

38 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the impedance sensor comprises a plurality of impedance sensors.

39 . The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the plurality of impedance sensors are configured to measure the impedance at different locations on the tongue of the user.

40 . The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the plurality of impedance sensors are provided on different locations on the apparatus.

41 . The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the plurality of impedance sensors are provided at different locations on the mouthpiece.

42 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the sensor is selected from one or more of a temperature sensor, or an electromyography (EMG) sensor.

43 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the sensing assembly is configured to determine or measure the tongue composition by determining or measuring a volumetric or mass ratio of muscle to fat of the tongue of the user.

44 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the sensing assembly is configured to determine or measure the tongue composition by determining or measuring a total volume or mass of muscle and/or fat of the tongue of the user.

45 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the sensing assembly is configured to determine or measure the tongue composition by determining or measuring a mass or volume of one or more types of muscle of the tongue of the user.

46 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the sensing assembly is configured to determine or measure the tongue composition by determining or measuring a relative ratio of a first type of muscle to a second type of muscle of the tongue of the user.

47 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the sensing assembly comprises an impedance converter configured or configurable to convert impedance data received from the sensor into user readable data.

48 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the sensing assembly comprises a frequency adjuster or generator configured or configurable to adjust or generate a or the frequency of electrical energy supplied to the one or more electrodes.

49 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further wherein the mouthpiece comprises a pair of arms connected together at a connecting portion and extending away from one another, and/or the mouthpiece comprises flanges for overlying at least a portion of a dorsal or a sublingual surface of the user's tongue.

50 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a controller operable to alter electrical stimulation to the one or more muscles of the mouth of the user.

51 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising memory to hold data relating to electrical stimulation applied to said one or more muscles of the user and/or data relating to an output of the sensing assembly.

52 . A method of determining the tongue composition of a person, the method comprising;

locating one or more electrodes in a mouth of a person;

applying electrical stimulation via the one or more electrodes to one or more muscles of the mouth of the person; and

using a sensing assembly to determine the tongue composition of the person.