Pharyngeal Acid Exposure Determined by Restech Dx-pH
A team from the University of Southern California validated Respiratory Technology Corporation’s Restech Dx-pH Measurement System to determine the level of pharyngeal acid exposure (pdf). The company described the findings on their website.
The Dx-pH probe incorporates a miniaturized pH sensor. It is 1.5mm in diameter. The probe can thus rest comfortably behind the patient’s soft palate. It does not interfere with a patient’s normal activities. This feature appears to overcome the limitations associated with current systems to measure pharyngeal pH.
The USC team used the system to determine normal pH levels, the normal degree of pharyngeal acid exposure, in a group of almost eighty healthy volunteers. This data can help clinicians decide if patients who have respiratory or laryngeal symptoms are the result of exposure to acid.
According to Restech, this is the only available system that can determine pH levels in the airway. A new tool was incorporated recently, the Dx-Sleep Adapter. That allows monitoring of patient’s pH in the airway during sleep.
August 22, 2008 Related topics: New Technology & Innovation, Diagnostic, Gastroenterology