Modeling of Gastric Volume Data to Assess Gastric Accommodation and Emptying Following Ingestion of Liquid Meals

Objectives: Power exponential equation (PE) of Elashoff et al. is the standard model used to describe gastric emptying (GE) patterns of normalized volume data. PE is constrained to a maximum of 1 at t0 and, thus, cannot elucidate other physiologic processes after meal intake, e.g.: gastric accommodation or secretion. We introduce a three parameter linear exponential model (LE), that can follow increases in gastric/meal volume and GE without normalization, given by V(t)=V0*(1+k*t/tempt)e(-t/tempt) (V0: postprandial volume at t0 [ml]; k: parameter describing rise in volume from V0; tempt: emptying time constant [1…