Possibilities of the non-invasive electrogastrography.

A non-invasive method for recording the electrical activity of the gastric muscle wall is presented. Electrogastrograms (EGG) with cutaneous electrodes on the abdominal wall were recorded using an original electrogastrograph. High-quality records without cardiac artifacts allowed for identification of waves belonging to the quiescent or activity period of the migrating myoelectric complex (MMC). The amplitude of the waves of the activity period of MMC were almost twice higher than that of the waves of the quiescent period. The wave amplitude immediately after feeding increased two times and a half compared to that during fasting. The high-amplitude waves in the activity periods of MMC and after feeding in the electrogastromyograms (EGMG) of dogs corresponded to bursts of spike potentials with slow potentials, i.e. to intense gastric muscle wall contractions. The method could contribute to the diagnosis of gastric motility disturbances in clinical practice.