MAGNETOENTEROGRAPHY (MENG) - NONINVASIVE MEASUREMENT OF BIOELECTRIC ACTIVITY IN HUMAN SMALL-INTESTINE

The basic electrical rhythm (BER) of the gastrointestinal tract create s minute magnetic fields that have been measured in animals using a Su perconducting QUantum Interference Device (SQUID) gradiometer. The aim of this study was to measure noninvasively the biomagnetic fields of human stomach and small intestine. Twenty-one human volunteers were st udied using a 37-channel SQUID gradiometer positioned over the epigast rium and umbilicus. In one volunteer additional biomagnetic recordings were performed in order to map the spatial variation of the biomagnet ic fields. Cyclical waveforms consistent with gastric BER [3.0 +/- 0.5 cycles-per minute (cpm)] and small intestine BER (10.26 +/- 1.74 cpm) were seen in the epigastrium and umbilicus, respectively, The mapping study identified the expected frequency gradient (12.0 cpm in duodenu m, 11.3 cpm in jejunum, to 9.7 cpm in ileum) within the small intestin e. Noninvasive recordings of human gastric and small intestinal BER ca n be obtained using a SQUID gradiometer.