Non-invasive Markers of Esophageal Function in Adults

NCT ID: NCT04074356

Last Updated: 2025-09-05

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

ENROLLING_BY_INVITATION

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

90 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2019-09-04

Study Completion Date

2026-09-30

Brief Summary

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The investigator proposes to study electrical activity reflective of esophageal motility in adults noninvasively by the use of multichannel electroesophagogram (EESG) and magnetoesophagogram (MESG) recordings.

Detailed Description

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Dysphagia, or difficulty with swallowing, is a common symptom affecting nearly 9.4 million individuals or 4% of the US population. High resolution esophageal manometry is currently considered the gold standard test for evaluation and diagnosis of esophageal motility disorders, but given that it requires trans-nasal placement in a conscious patient, this test is highly uncomfortable and associated with significant patient dissatisfaction. There are currently no noninvasive tests or markers available to test esophageal function and motility.

In the upper gastrointestinal system, as in the heart, disruption of the electrical syncytium in disease produces measurable dysrhythmia. Recent modifications of the standard electrogastrogram (EGG) that have increased the number of leads to 25 (termed high-resolution EGG) have allowed enhanced spatio-temporal resolution of electric slow wave activity, and newer analytic techniques. Additionally, the magnetogastrogram (MGG) overcomes many of the inherent limitations of the standard EGG. The goal of this proposal is to harness similar technologies applied to the esophagus to develop high-resolution electroesophagogram (EESG) and magnetoesophagogram (MESG) as noninvasive clinical methods to quantify esophageal function and motility disorders, which could guide intervention for a large number of adult patients.

The main aims in this proposal are to develop a mathematical model of esophageal function and characterize phenotypes of esophageal motility disorders using EESG/MESG in healthy controls and esophageal dysmotility patients and determine how EESG/MESG rhythm and pattern abnormalities relate to physiologic function.

Conditions

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Dysphagia

Study Design

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Allocation Method

NON_RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

DIAGNOSTIC

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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Healthy Controls

Healthy volunteers with no known gastrointestinal complications will be given questionnaires and testing by electroesophagogram (EESG) and magnetoesophagogram (MESG).

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Clinical measure questionnaires

Intervention Type OTHER

Collection of patient reported symptoms and perception of health

EESG

Intervention Type DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

Use of silver-silver chloride cutaneous electrogastrogram (EGG) electrodes to get myoelectrical readings

MESG

Intervention Type DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

MESG measures spatiotemporal properties of magnetic fields from the esophageal slow wave and allows characterization of the propagation of the slow wave in addition to evaluation of its frequency and power distribution

Achalasia subjects

Subjects who have undergone standard of care high resolution manometry that results in a diagnosis of achalasia will be given questionnaires and testing by electroesophagogram (EESG) and magnetoesophagogram (MESG).

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Clinical measure questionnaires

Intervention Type OTHER

Collection of patient reported symptoms and perception of health

EESG

Intervention Type DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

Use of silver-silver chloride cutaneous electrogastrogram (EGG) electrodes to get myoelectrical readings

MESG

Intervention Type DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

MESG measures spatiotemporal properties of magnetic fields from the esophageal slow wave and allows characterization of the propagation of the slow wave in addition to evaluation of its frequency and power distribution

High resolution manometry (HRM)

Intervention Type DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

Dysphagia subjects will have undergone standard of care HRM to determine placement in the achalasia or hypercontractile/spastic disorder arms

Hypercontractile/spastic disorder subjects

Subjects who have undergone standard of care high resolution manometry that results in a diagnosis of hypercontractile/spastic disorder will be given questionnaires and testing by electroesophagogram (EESG) and magnetoesophagogram (MESG).

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Clinical measure questionnaires

Intervention Type OTHER

Collection of patient reported symptoms and perception of health

EESG

Intervention Type DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

Use of silver-silver chloride cutaneous electrogastrogram (EGG) electrodes to get myoelectrical readings

MESG

Intervention Type DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

MESG measures spatiotemporal properties of magnetic fields from the esophageal slow wave and allows characterization of the propagation of the slow wave in addition to evaluation of its frequency and power distribution

High resolution manometry (HRM)

Intervention Type DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

Dysphagia subjects will have undergone standard of care HRM to determine placement in the achalasia or hypercontractile/spastic disorder arms

Interventions

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Clinical measure questionnaires

Collection of patient reported symptoms and perception of health

Intervention Type OTHER

EESG

Use of silver-silver chloride cutaneous electrogastrogram (EGG) electrodes to get myoelectrical readings

Intervention Type DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

MESG

MESG measures spatiotemporal properties of magnetic fields from the esophageal slow wave and allows characterization of the propagation of the slow wave in addition to evaluation of its frequency and power distribution

Intervention Type DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

High resolution manometry (HRM)

Dysphagia subjects will have undergone standard of care HRM to determine placement in the achalasia or hypercontractile/spastic disorder arms

Intervention Type DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

Other Intervention Names

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SQUID magnetometer

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Adults ≥ 18 years of age who are undergoing HRM for routine standard of care evaluation for esophageal motility.
* Normal control participants (ages ≥ 18 years) who have no known gastrointestinal complications.

Exclusion Criteria

* Those with claustrophobia who cannot lie still under the SQUID for the length of time required
* Due to interference with signal acquisition, subjects with contraindication to undergoing an MRI scan as noted in the MRI Safety checklist by Vanderbilt University Medical Center (such as with heart pacemakers, metal implants, or metal chips or clips) will not undergo SQUID, but can still be eligible to do cutaneous EESG.
* Morbid obesity (these patients are potentially unable to lie under the current generation of SQUID devices)
* Patients with a history of cardiac arrhythmias or taking anticoagulants will be excluded
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

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Vanderbilt University Medical Center

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Dhyanesh Patel

Principal Investigator

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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Dhyanesh Patel, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Locations

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Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Nashville, Tennessee, United States

Site Status

Countries

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United States

Other Identifiers

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191280

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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