When food travels through the digestive tract, muscles need to flex in order to keep things moving smoothly. Loss of motility can result in constipation, inability to transfer food out of the stomach, or acid reflux. Dysmotility disorders are typically diagnosed with catheter carrying pressure transducers that detect GI tract contractions.
Researchers have created a novel device inspired by old Incan technology, the quipu — a collection of knotted cords used to transfer information. The development is highly relevant for Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Devices Market as it could offer an in-expensive and simple-to-manufacture alternative to existing diagnostics for GI dysmotility.
Researchers demonstrated that their essential gadget, a silicone tube gives values equal to those produced by the cutting-edge diagnostic procedure known as high-resolution manometry. The tea further added that the tube is filled with liquid metal and knotted numerous times,
This is a straightforward, inexpensive setup. Still, researchers can make a measurement that would typically require devices that cost thousands of dollars and a much more complicated instrument. The goal was to create a device comparable to the existing, commercially available catheter-based pressure transducers. It also simultaneously lowers the cost and makes it easier to produce and deploy.
For tests in animal models, the researchers used the quipu-inspired sensor to measure pressure in the oesophagus while the food was swallowed. They also evaluated a reflex referred to as the rectoanal inhibitory reflex (RAIR). The team found that the new devices generated pressure measurements similar to those of the gold-standard manometry technique for both tests.
The quipu-inspired sensors could potentially be useful in places with no access to current manometry technology. Further, in more industrialized areas, it can be used as a less-expensive, easier-to-use alternative to manometry.
The team believes that this diagnostic could be broadly applied both in developing and developed world settings. The next step for the group is looking for potential partners to help us manufacture these and then testing them in patients.