Instrumentation for quantitative assessment of intestinal viability

The development of an instrumentation system to quantify the survivability of ischemic intestine is reported. The device is a second-generation effort intended to provide the surgeon with an instrument to give immediate information on the amount of ischemic bowel which will not survive and must be surgically resected. The instrument delivers a precisely-controlled electrical stimulus to a small segment of bowel measures the resulting evoked contractile response. This device, which is termed the electronic contractility meter, was evaluated in a series of preliminary experiments. The instrument consist of two main components: a measurement probe which attaches to the intestine and a signal processing/display module. The probe provides an electrode interface for the electrical stimulus as well as the transducer for the measurement of contractile response. The probe can be detached and gas-sterilized for reuse. The signal processing/display module produces a precisely-controlled electrical stimulus, detects and processes the probe contractility signals, and displays the results.