Patent ID: 7236820

Claim:
A method of testing peristalsis and bolus transit in a person's esophagus comprising: positioning a probe comprising a plurality of electrodes in longitudinally spaced relation to each other in the person's esophagus; having the person swallow a swallow challenge medium that has viscosity in a range of 1,000 to 100,000 centipoise (high shear), conductivity in the range of 3.8 to 7.6 mS/cm, and sufficient surface tension to cause the swallow challenge medium to clear sufficiently from surfaces of the electrodes and probe as the swallow challenge medium passes the electrodes and probe such that impedance measurements across the electrodes after the swallow challenge medium passes the electrodes is not less than 50% of impedance measurements across the electrodes before the challenge medium reaches the electrodes; measuring impedance across the electrodes on a real time basis as the challenge medium moves though the esophagus, and recording the impedance measurements as a function of time.