New treatment makes diagnosing GI problems easier

 A new treatment is giving patients an easier way to diagnose their digestion problems.

Current digestion tests can take a while and expose patients to repeated doses of radiation, but a quicker test, known as the SmartPill is now available.

The Florida Center for Gastroenterology in Largo is the first in the Bay area to offer this new test.

"It actually looks at pH, which is acid or alkaline, it looks at temperature, it looks at pressure," said Dr. Arthur Berman, a gastroenterologist with the clinic. "By putting all three things together, they can determine how long it takes for things to empty out of your stomach, small bowel and colon."

The patient swallows the capsule, which then travels through the GI tract, collecting that information. The data is transported wirelessly to a monitor that the patient wears for three to five days.

"The monitor will tell us again how long it takes to go through the GI tract, but also tells us about contractions- whether the stomach is contracting appropriately, whether the first part of the small intestine is contracting and working appropriately," Dr. Berman said.

Most insurance companies cover the SmartPill.