Computer aided analysis of electrical and mechanical activity of stomach and duodenum.

In studies of gastroduodenal motility several imaging techniques and also recordings of signals of implanted transducers are used. Combination of methods and prolonged observation times produce so much information that an automatic analysis is advantageous, the more so because more complex parameters can be analysed. Using a desktop computer, it is possible to analyse long time-series of antral and duodenal signals, obtained with implanted electrodes and strain gauges. The developed program can discriminate between the signal and the majority of artefacts. An easy manual interaction on the computer display enables the operator to either accept or adjust the indicators of recognized signals. The times of occurrence and the amplitudes of the detected peaks are retained for further analysis e.g. production of histograms of interval time, amplitude, antroduodenal time lag, or calculation of coordination parameters.