Method of evaluating gastroparesis using an ingestible capsule

Abstract

A method of evaluating gastroparesis comprising the steps of providing an ingestible capsule having a pH sensor and a pressure sensor, having a subject ingest the capsule, recording pH measurements from the pH sensor as a function of time as the capsule moves through at least a portion of the gastrointestinal tract of the subject, recording pressure measurements from the pressure sensor as a function of time as the capsule moves through at least a portion of the gastrointestinal tract of the subject, determining the capsule's location at a first position in the gastrointestinal tract, deriving a pressure pattern as a function of time and the pressure measurements, providing a reference pressure pattern, and analyzing the subject's pressure pattern relative to the reference pressure pattern to evaluate the subject with respect to gastroparesis. The location may be the junction between the stomach and the small bowel of the subject. The pressure pattern may be the number of contractions relative to a baseline over a given time interval or area under the curve of pressure measurements over a given time interval.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.