title: Magnet tracking allows assessment of regional gastrointestinal transit times in children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Data on small intestinal transit time in healthy children are lacking, and normal values for gastric emptying and colonic transit time are sparse. Conventional methods, including radiopaque markers, scintigraphy, and PillCam™ involve radiation or require the child to swallow a large pill. The minimally invasive, radiation-free Motility Tracking System-1 (MTS-1) has been introduced for description of gastrointestinal motility in adults. The aim of the study was to evaluate the MTS-1 for assessment of gastrointestinal transit times and motility patterns in healthy children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-one healthy children (nine girls), median age 10 (range 7-12) years were included. For evaluation with MTS-1, a small magnetic pill was ingested and tracked through the gastrointestinal tract by a matrix of 16 magnetic sensors placed behind a nonmagnetic bed. The children were investigated for 8 hours after swallowing the magnetic pill and again for 4 hours the following morning. After leaving the unit, each child came back after every bowel movement to determine if the pill had been expelled.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Nineteen children could swallow the pill. Characteristic contraction patterns were identified for the stomach (three per minute), small intestine (9-11 per minute), and colon (4-5 per minute). Median total gastrointestinal transit time was 37.7 (range 9.5-95.8) hours, median gastric emptying time was 37 (range 2-142) minutes, median small intestinal transit time was 302 (range 164 to >454) minutes, and median colorectal transit time was 38.1 (range 5.6-90.0) hours.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  MTS-1 allows minimally invasive evaluation of gastrointestinal motility in children. Use of the method is, however, restricted by the nonambulatory setup.
authors.affiliation: Neurogastroenterology Unit, Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Aarhus, Denmark ; Department of Pediatrics, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hedsund
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Iben Moeller
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Joensson
authors.affiliation: Neurogastroenterology Unit, Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Tine
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gregersen
authors.affiliation: Neurogastroenterology Unit, Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Lotte
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fynne
authors.affiliation: Motilis Medica SA, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Schlageter
authors.affiliation: Neurogastroenterology Unit, Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Krogh
keywords: gastrointestinal motility; gastrointestinal transit time; healthy children; motility tracking system