Dysphagia, or abnormal swallowing of foods and/ or liquids, affects people of all ages from the newborn to the elderly. Management of dysphagia is commonly done by the prescription of texture-controlled diets. Ideally, the most appropriate modification of food consistencies should follow from a clear assessment of the swallowing problem. Rheology and swallowing are connected at the diagnosis level. The "gold standard" technique is a videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS). The swallowing process can be visualized using videoradiography by employing either ready-to-use commercial contrast medium or by mixing food with barium sulphate (BaSO4), making it radiopaque. Unfortunately, there is no standardization to perform VFSS. This lack of standardization leads to variability of results as well as their interpretation. In practice, lack of standardization often requires that individual speech pathologist, dieticians and dysphagia food manufacturers determine their own dietary consistencies. Another possibility is the use of encapsulated MRI superparamagnetic contrast agents for oral administration. The main goal of this invention has been to develop new and improved formulations of carriers/vehicles for radio-opaque (barium sulphate) or magnetic contrast agents (superparamagnetic iron oxide) that can be used as ready-to-use/ powder commercial formulations as contrast media for imaging diagnosis (VFSS or MRI) of dysphagia.L'invention concerne la dysphagie, ou la déglutition anormale d'aliments et/ou de liquides, qui affecte des personnes de tout âge, du nouveau-né à la personne âgée. La gestion de dysphagie est communément réalisée par la prescription de régimes alimentaires à texture contrôlée. Idéalement, la modification des consistances d'aliments la plus appropriée doit suivre une évaluation claire du problème de déglutition. La rhéologie et la déglutition sont associées au niveau du diagnostic. La technique de référence est une étude vidéofluoroscopique sur la dégl
