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Abstract
The gastrointestinal (GI) tract, with its layered structure, can be imaged by ultrasound using a transabdominal approach or intraluminal high-frequency probes. New ultrasound technology can be used to characterize tissue hardness, study motility in real-time, direct diagnostic and therapeutic intervention, evaluate GI wall perfusion and tissue viability, and perform 3D imaging. Ultrasound is a safe imaging modality, and development of smaller devices has improved its application as a flexible clinical tool, which also can be used bedside. Recently, microbubbles have been injected into the blood stream loaded with contrast agents, or other diagnostic and therapeutic agents. Such bubbles can be destroyed by ultrasound waves, thus releasing their content at a given area of interest. In this article, we present a review of the GI wall anatomy and discuss currently available ultrasound technology for diagnosis and treatment of GI wall disorders.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
This work was generously financially supported by a grant from Olav Raagholt and Gerd Meidel Raagholts Research Foundation, Norway (to S Ødegaard and LB Nesje). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.