Initial Experience with a Portable 24-Hour Unit to Record the Surface Gastrogram

The surface gastrogram (SG) is a noninvasive method of recording and analyzing the gastric slow wave. One limiting factor to widespread use of the SG in studies of patients (pts.) with gastric motility disorders has been the large amount of recording and analysis equipment required and the lack of a high quality portable recorder. This study describes the recording characteristics and data quality for the SG from a prototype portable 24 hr recorder in pts. in a CCU. 12 pts. with 288 hr of recording were analyzed in this study with 10.8% of recording excluded from analysis because of movement artifact. Amplitude and frequency values over the 24 hr periods in all pts. were not different from previous 30 min recordings processed in real time. Wave form examples, data flow diagrams for the recording system, and normal values are described for this population group. The noninvasive quality of the SG along with the long-term recording capabilities of this recording system make this an ideal method to study gastric smooth muscle function in an ambulatory setting in a variety of disease states.