Radionuclide measurement of normal and disturbed gastric motility

Techniques for the measurement of gastric emptying using radionuclides are reviewed as a basis for a discussion of gastric emptying tests. A new technique for the noninvasive quantitative measurement of antral motility is described, whereby measurements of redistribution of gastric contents between fundus and antrum and actual gastric emptying are obtained simultaneously. These tests provide more relevant insight into the pathophysiology of gastric motility disturbances than that previously obtained by conventional gastric emptying studies.