Modeling of esophageal bolus flow by functional data analysis of scintigrams.

Peristaltic forces cause a topographic, time-dependent distribution of bolus mass during its esophageal transport. A two-dimensional spatial-temporal pattern (profile) of local transit times is constructed by computer-based double compression of scintigraphic images sampled from whole swallows. Reconstruction by Gaussian bands and modeling this pattern discloses transient ellipsoidal bolus structures. The structures studied in 10 healthy volunteers present highly reproducible quantitative parameters for marking a region-specificity of transit times, which is related to the known region-selectivity of esophageal functions. Correlation of bolus flow with the dynamics of peristalsis is essential for understanding the complex mechanisms of esophageal transport as well as for diagnostic discrimination of disturbances of bolus flow.