Research into gastrointestinal motility has received renewed interest
in part due to recent advances in the techniques for measuring the
structure and function of gastrointestinal cells, tissue and organs. The
integration of this wealth of data into biophysically based computation
models can aid in interpretation of experimental and clinical
measurements and the refinement of measurement techniques.
The contents of this book span multiple scales - from cell, tissue,
organ, to whole body and is divided into four broad sections covering:
i) gastrointestinal cellular activity and tissue structure; (ii)
techniques for measuring, analyzing and visualizing high-resolution
extra-cellular recordings; (iii) methods for sensing gastroelectrical
activity using non-invasive bio-electro-magnetic fields and for
modulating the underlying gastric electrical activity and finally (iv)
methods for assessing manometric and videographic motility patterns and
the application of these data for predicting the flow and mixing
behavior of luminal contents by using computational fluid dynamic
techniques.
This book aims to provide both an overview of historical and existing
research techniques as well as to highlight future directions and
challenges for the community as a whole. It will be suitable for
clinicians to understand the cellular and biophysical underpinnings of
gastric emptying, gastroenterologists, surgeons, bioengineers and all
scientists with interests in gastrointestinal motility research.
