Non-invasive Test for Gastroparesis Developed for Routine Diagnostic Use

A non-invasive test for gastroparesis, a chronic stomach condition characterized by nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain, is now available for routine clinical diagnostic use.

The University of Kansas Hospital (Kansas City, USA) is one of the first in the United States to offer the SmartPill pH.p Capsule as a standard clinical test. SmartPill, manufactured by SmartPill Corp. (Buffalo, NY, USA) is an ingestible, wireless capsule that measures pressure, pH, and temperature as it transits the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. This information is used to provide gastric emptying time, combined small and large bowel transit time, total transit time, pressure contraction patterns from the antrum and duodenum, and motility indices.

The capsule, which is somewhat larger than a multi-vitamin (26 mm x 13 mm), is administered in a physician's office. Since the SmartPill test is ambulatory, the patient is free to continue with his normal routine during the course of the assay. As the capsule passes through the GI tract, it transmits data to a data receiver worn by the patient. Once the single-use capsule has passed from the body, the patient returns the data receiver to the physician, who then downloads the collected data to a personal computer. The physician then uses a dedicated software package to analyze and display the data. Test results in both graphic and report formats are available within a few minutes.

While SmartPill in its present form cannot replace procedures such as endoscopy and colonoscopy, it may be used instead of gastric-emptying scintigraphy, which exposes a patient to radiation, and manometry, which involves the use of pressure catheters, inserted through the mouth and/or rectum.

"Some gastroparesis patients cannot really leave their house because of their problems. Often, these patients are losing weight because of limited nutritional intake,” explained Dr. Richard McCallum, professor of gastroenterology at the University of Kansas Hospital. "This new technology will allow us to give these patients the treatment they need much sooner and with a non-invasive safe and well-tolerated test with standardized results for better patient outcomes.”


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University of Kansas Hospital
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