Model to simulate the gastric electrical control and response activity on the stomach wall and on the abdominal surface.

Abstract

A new physical model to simulate the gastric electrical activity (ECA and ERA) as picked up at points on the stomach wall and on the abdominal surface is proposed. In this model the part of the stomach where the electrical activity originates and propagates is represented by a truncated cone of finite length; the electrical potential representing the electrical activity of the cell is generated by a distal movement of an annular band polarised by electric dipoles which are oriented perpendicularly to the surface of the cone. The model reproduces not only the spatial and temporal organisation of the gastric electrical activity (ECA and ERA) but also its morphological characteristics (waveform, amplitude, frequency, phase lag) as obtained by experimentsin vivo. This model also reproduces the morphological characteristics of the signal as picked up, by experimentsin vivo on the abdominal surface in man.