Lower esophageal sphincter monitoring with sphinctometer: in vitro and in vivo studies

esophageal sphincter monitoring with sphinctometer: in vitro and in vivo studies. Am. J. Physiol. 277 (Gastrointest. Liver Physiol. 40): G577–G584, 1999.—The sphinctometer is a solid-state device system for prolonged ambulatory record-ings of the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) pressure. The aims of this study were to determine 1) the pressure sensitiv-ity and the latency of sphinctometer responses in vitro, 2) if the sphinctometer can record transient LES relaxations (TLESR) in vivo, and 3) if the currently accepted criteria for TLESR are applicable to sphinctometer recordings. Different segments of the sphinctometer were positioned in a chamber at known pressures to assess the sphinctometer readings as well as the latency of the response. Ten healthy subjects were investigated with the use of a solid-state transducer sphinc-tometer assembly and a pH probe for 4 h. The LES pressur