UltrasoundX

High resolution manometry (HRM), the current gold standard to assess esophageal motility measures the contraction of the circular muscles of the esophagus, which represents only the half of the muscle mass of the esophagus. The other half, longitudinal muscle, is not measured by the HRM. Ultrasound imaging of the esophagus using high frequency ultrasounds catheter probes along with manometry allows simultaneous measurement of the longitudinal and circular muscles. Our laboratory has used the combined ultrasound imaging along with the traditional manometry and high resolution manometry for last 25 years and have uncovered many aspects of esophageal function in health and disease. One of the difficulty in the above studies is that the display and analysis of the ultrasound images synchronized with manometery is laborious and time consuming. Over the years, we have developed several displays, B-mode, M-mode US images that can be synchronized with the manometry/HRM recordings. We believe that a greater use of these modalities, using user friendly software, will further enhance our understanding of the esophageal motor function in health and disease. Watch UltraSoundX Tutorial