We’ve been studying gastric acid secretion for many years, using both ambulatory pH monitoring and direct measurement of mucosal hydrogen ion secretion, but we also have substantial experience of testing other functions of the gastrointestinal system. We’ve used all of the following techniques –
- Intragastric and oesophageal 24-h ambulatory pH monitoring
- Pentagastrin- or histamine-stimulated acid secretion
- Gastrointestinal transit time
- Intragastric drug infusion
- Intrajejunal drug administration
- Faecal red blood cell loss – using 51Cr-labelled red cells
- Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy
- Ambulatory gastric emptying after 99mTc radiolabelled meal, using a CsI detector and gamma camera
- Gastric emptying using paracetamol kinetics
- Gall bladder scintigraphy using 99mTc radiolabelled HIDA – in collaboration with Radiological Sciences Unit, Hammersmith Hospital
We’re equipped to do most of those investigations in-house, but for quantitative scintigraphy and other specialised techniques we collaborate with departments of nuclear medicine in our local hospitals and academic units.