13C BREATH TEST FOR CHECKING THE GASTROINTESTINAL FUNCTION AND/OR METABOLIC FUNCTIONS AND DEVICE THEREFOR

The invention relates to a 13C breath test for checking the gastrointestinal function and/or the metabolic functions in the case of a patient, comprising the following steps: administering a compound marked with 13C to a patient, by which patient the 13C-marked compound is converted into a 13C-marked metabolism product, wherein the 13C-marked metabolism product is 13CO2; determining the change in the relative concentrations of 13CO2 in the breathing air of the patient over a predetermined time interval in the form of enrichment data; and evaluating the obtained enrichment data on the basis of a mathematical estimate of the 13C release curve; and back-calculating the gastrointestinal emptying in the form of the transfer function R(t) from the obtained polynomial coefficients and determining the metabolism of the 13C-marked compound into 13CO2 from the metabolism parameter (γ). The 13C breath test can be performed in a non-invasive, non-radioactive, safe, simple, and effective manner and provides information about the gastrointestinal emptying and/or metabolic function within minutes.