Gastrointestinal disorders are the cause of significant morbidity in the United States, resulting in over $50B in healthcare expenditures by some estimates. Diagnosis of these disorders relies on largely anatomic evaluation with radiographic imaging and endoscopy. These tests poorly assess functional pathology. G-Tech Medical, a company based at the Fogarty Institute for Innovation and headed by Steve Axelrod, PhD, promises to deliver GutCheck, a non-invasive diagnostic patch that evaluates functional characteristics of the gastrointestinal system by measuring electrical activity.
The technology was first tested in wired form but now leverages Bluetooth wireless technology to transmit data via a smartphone to the company’s cloud infrastructure for analysis and eventual assessment by a clinician. The use of wireless infrastructure allows patients to comfortably wear the patches at home or in the clinic.
G-Tech Medical has tested the technology and analytics in many clinical trials, including in patients diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease to evaluate gastrointestinal function, irritable bowel syndrome, and in the post-operative setting for detection of ileus (transient decreased gastrointestinal function) with encouraging results.
G-Tech aims to focus first on post-operative in-hospital monitoring with plans to launch into a clinic-based diagnostic for use by clinicians specializing in gastroenterology.