Measurement of the Esophageal Transit Time Using a Magnetic Marker

摘要

Human esophagus in adults is a tube of about 30 cm long, which is part of the Gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Its motility is necessary to transport the food from the mouth to the stomach. This task has a particular peristaltic frequency and it last a defined time. The transit time of lumen content (TTLC) is altered when a non vertical position is adopted. That is, the transit time is longer if the subject is in horizontal position. In this work, the transit time was measured on 15 health volunteers, in four different inclinations: 90, 45, 0 and -45 degrees using a magnetic marker and two fluxgate sensors. Changes from 5 to 34 seconds were observed from 90° to -45°, respectively.