Supported by the Karen Elise Jensens Foundation and the Danish

AIM: To measure the time-dependent (viscoelastic) behavior in the change of the small intestinal opening angle and to test how well the behavior could be described by the Kelvin model for a standard linear solid. METHODS: Segments from the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum were harvested from 10 female Wistar rats and the luminal diameter, wall thickness, and opening angle over time (θ(t)) were measured from rings cut from these segments. RESULTS: Morphometric variations were found along the small intestine with an increase in luminal area and a decrease in wall thickness from the duodenum to the ileum. The opening angle obtained after 60 min was highest in the duodenum (220.8±12.9°) and decrease