Development of novel MRI tests of colonic function published in Neurogastroenterology and Motility

Research by scientists in the Nottingham Digestive Diseases Centre and the Sir Peter Mansfield Magnetic Resonance Centre at the University of Nottingham developing magnetic resonance imaging of colonic motility and function has been accepted for publication in the leading peer-reviewed journal Neurogastroenterology and Motility.

Current methods of assessing colonic motility have significant limitations of expense, availability and patient acceptability. In this paper we investigated the use of oral polyethylene glycol (PEG) electrolyte as standardized colonic stimulation and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to monitor fluid distributions and gastrointestinal motility noninvasively. We found that ingestion of PEG electrolyte solution increased the small bowel water content by four-fold. The size of the colon doubled after dosing and the ascending colon motility index rose markedly, the increase being dose dependent.

Such a challenge was well tolerated and could become a useful way of assessing colonic motility in the future.