Computer analysis of electrical and mechanical activity of stomach, duodenum and caecum over long periods

Abstract

The electrical and mechanical activity of the gastrointestinal tract can be measured by electrodes or transducers and can be transferred by filters and amplifiers as an analogue signal. In the cases of electrical control activity (ECA), of electrical response activity (ERA) and contractions only a few parameters are of interest. These are for example: time of occurrence, amplitude and duration as well as their mutual time-relationships. For experiments over long periods, the detection and evaluation of even these reduced data exceed the manual capacity without the aid of a computer. ECA, ERA and contractions must first be recognized. For this recognition, we use electronic circuits, which cause an interrupt in the computer. By this interrupt, a special circuit will be activated which detects and stores the necessary data. Subsequent analysis can then be done by conventional means of display, classification and statistical treatment.