The use of intraluminal strain gauges for recording ambulant small bowel motility.

Perfused-tube manometry has hitherto been the standard technique for recording intraluminal intestinal pressure in humans, but it is unsuitable for ambulant use. The aim of our study was to evaluate the ability of resistive strain gauge transducers attached to a fine catheter to detect pressure change. Simultaneous strain gauge and perfused-tube manometry was performed on six fasting subjects; in four, strain gauge activation was continuous and in two, the transducers were activated in a pulsed mode with data encoded as a pulse train with an approximate frequency of 20 Hz. Eight thousand eight hundred eighty-eight pressure waves were recorded by strain gauge, of which 96% were detected by perfused-tube manometry. There was good agreement in both phases II and III of the migrating motor complex. The amplitude of pressure waves recorded by strain gauge was slightly but significantly greater. A proportion (14-17%) of pressure waves recorded by strain gauge were bifid; this was not seen with the perfused tube. These differences are best explained by the greater sensitivity and more rapid rise time of the strain gauges. There was no loss of fidelity in the pulse-interval recording mode. A seventh subject underwent a continuous 72-h recording with the strain gauge catheter attached to a battery-operated encoder and magnetic tape cassette recorder and was freely ambulant during this period. The procedure was well tolerated and motility patterns could be clearly identified. We conclude that intraluminal strain gauge catheters are suitable for prolonged use in ambulant subjects and produce data that are closely comparable to the data acquired from perfused-tube manometry under laboratory conditions.