Verification of the intraluminal multiple electrical impedance measurement for the recording of gastrointestinal motility

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Abstract
A new intraluminal electrical impedance procedure for high‐resolution measurements and the quantitative assessment of gastrointestinal motility is examined in healthy volunteers by cineradiography and manometry. The peristalsis in the oesophagus, stomach and small bowel is recorded with a combined impedance‐pressure catheter. Additionally, investigations with a flexible 16‐channel impedance catheter with a closed surface and a diameter of 3 mm are carried out in the oesophagus and small intestine. The 16 measuring segments with a length of 2 cm each record the contractile patterns from a 32‐cm‐long organ section without a gap. The correctness of the physical approach is validated by concurrent impedance and cineradiography recordings of the oesophageal peristalsis. The comparative studies confirm a close relation between the pressure and the impedance changes in the oesophagus and small intestine. The time analysis of the impedance tracings offers information about the bolus transit and the change of the wall compliance along the organ. Regions of high or low compliance of the muscular wall can be recognized. From the impedance tracings the direction of the contraction waves as well as their velocities, lengths, beginnings and ends can be determined. Moreover, the beginning and end of the bolus, and from them the momentary bolus length, can be characterized for any instant during the bolus transit.

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