SOLID-STATE SPHINCTER MANOMETER

DURING THIS PROGRAM, A SOLID-STATE PROBE WILL BE DEVELOPED FOR USE IN MAPPING THE PRESSURE DISTRIBUTION WITHIN HUMAN SPHINCTERS. CURRENT PROBES DETERMINE PRESSURE BY THE OCCLUSION OF PORTS ON THE SURFACE OF THE PROBE FROM WHICH A FLUID IS PERFUSED. DUE TO CONSTRAINTS OF FLUID HANDLING, THEY ARE LIMITED IN RESOLUTION TO ABOUT EIGHT SENSOR PORTS. TO OBTAIN MAPS OF SPHINCTER PRESSURE, THE PROBES MUST BE MOVED IN THE SPHINCTER. THE USER MUST ALSO ACCOUNT FOR THE BUILDUP OF PERFUSION FLUID IN THE BODY. THE SOLID-STATE PROBE WILL ORIGINALLY BE DESIGNED WITH AN AREA MATRIX OF 256 POINTS. THE SENSORS ARE MADE OF A POLYMER THAT MEASURES BOTH STATIC AND DYNAMIC RESPONSE. THIS WILL ALLOW GREATLY ACCELERATED PROCEDURES, WITHOUT THE MESS OF PERFUSION FLUIDS AND WITHOUT THE ARTIFACTS CAUSED BYMOTION-INDUCED SPHINCTER RESPONSE. IT WILL ALSO ALLOW SIMULTANEOUS MONITORING OF ALL POINTS IN THE SPHINCTER TO CORRELATE CONTRACTION WAVES, WHICH HAS NOT YET BEEN DONE.