Researchers from the Auckland Bioengineering Institute have shown that ablation therapy, often used to correct an abnormally beating heart, could be used to correct disorders of the stomach.
In normal circumstances the stomach is coordinated by underlying bioelectrical “slow wave” activity, which coordinates the contraction of the muscles that mix and move contents into and through the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. When these electrical slow waves don’t work as they should, described as ‘stomach dysrhythmias’, it can lead to severe GI disorders and symptoms of nausea, vomiting, pain and bloating, and is often untreatable.
