Computerized analysis of spike-burst activity of the upper gastrointestinal tract.

Although the electrical recording of spike-burst activity is a well-established technique, the visual-manual analysis of the electrical tracings is laborious and time consuming. Current automated methods for analyzing upper gastrointestinal spike-burst activity involve the use of computer systems capable of storing large quantities of data. We describe herein an automated system for counting myoelectrical spike bursts that provides online detection of spike bursts using a laboratory computer. Because only the parameters that describe each burst are stored, only a minimal amount of computer memory is required. Subsequent analysis of stored information yields tabular or graphical output of data. Results of the computer analysis are comparable with those obtained by visual-manual assessment.