New Wireless System Detects Esophageal Reflux

A team of doctors and engineers have developed a wireless monitoring system that uses electrical impulses to track esophageal reflux.

Researchers from the University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center (Dallas, USA) together with UT Arlington (USA) engineers combined radiofrequency identification (RFID) technology--used in thousands of stores for tracking inventory and in identification chips implanted in some pets--with another emerging applied science called impedance monitoring, which tracks reflux through electrical impulses. The new system involves pinning a small, flexible RFID chip to the esophagus, where it remains until removed by a physician. The chip, which measures about two square centimeters, tests for electrical impulses that signal acidic or non-acidic liquids moving through the esophagus. It then transmits the data to a wireless sensor worn around the patient's neck.

The researchers have already successfully tested the new RFID device to see that it properly identifies simulated stomach acids in a test tube and that the transmitter can send the results through human tissue. The sensor is designed to detect stomach acid, gas, and water so doctors can determine whether the presence of those substances coincides with feelings of heartburn, the start of eating, or other activities. The next step in the development of the device, which is still in the test phase, will involve testing in animal models before the system eventually is tested in humans. The device was presented at the Digestive Disease Week conference held in Washington (DC, USA) during May 2007.

"We always want to come up with something that improves what we do on a daily basis,” said senior researcher Dr. Shou Jiang Tang, an assistant professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern who specializes in therapeutic endoscopic and endoscopic innovations.

Eventually, the researchers hope to design a device similar to a personal digital assistant (PDA) to store the results. That PDA-like device could then be taken into a doctor's office and downloaded into a computer to analyze the results.


Related Links:
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
University of Texas Arlington