Upper gastrointestinal sensory-motor dysfunction in diabetes mellitus

Figure 1 Top: The probe design allowing mechanical, heat and electrical stimulation of both the oesophagus and duodenum. The centre of the bag contains the sensor of the ultrasound probe imaging the oesophagus and duodenum during mechanical distension. The thermal stimuli were given by a pump system, which re-circulates water at 60 °C through two channels in the probe. The electrodes allowed electrical stimulation delivered directly to the mucosal surface. Bottom: The somatic referred pain areas to mechanical distension of the duodenum for the controls (left) and diabetic patients (right). The areas were larger for the diabetic patients.