By Lori Lyle
WAVE 3 Medical Reporter

LOUISVILLE (WAVE) -- About 19 million people suffer from gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD. It's an often painful condition when acid moves up from the stomach into the esophagus. As medical reporter Lori Lyle tells us, experts are studying a new technology to soon replace uncomfortable, traditional tracking procedures.

This tiny pill cam was one of the first ways doctors used wireless technology to diagnose esophagus disorders like reflux. A patient swallows the disposable miniature camera and it takes hundreds of pictures inside the body. This bravo capsule, seen on the left, is another wireless technology currently in use.

Doctors used the capsule on 29-year-old John Grimes when he complained of reflux symptoms. Surgeons implanted the capsule on his esophagus.

"It was there for probably about two weeks, but it was monitored for 24 hours at a monitor that's about a little larger than a beeper or a cell phone," says Josh.

Now researchers at University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas and University of Texas Arlington are testing the next generation of wireless monitoring systems. It will be one of the first to detect other causes of reflux, while using safe radiofrequency signals.

"The frequencies that we're using are the kind that are in the atmosphere all around us. They're not microwaves, they're not even cell phone energy, they're very low frequency," says Dr. Fred Tibbals, director of the UT Southwestern Bioinstrumentation Resources Center. 

Once the system is approved for humans, doctors will pin a small, dime-size chip to the esophagus. The chip will detect electrical impulses that signal acidic or nonacidic liquids moving through the esophagus.

"It's a much more comfortable test and will not change the way you routinely eat," said Dr. Shou Jiang Tang, a UT Southwestern gastroenterologist.

Exciting news for patients like john who want to treat their nagging, reflux symptoms.

The wireless monitoring system is still in the testing phase, but researchers say the device will act similarly to a PDA to store the results. Then doctors would download the data into a computer to analyze them.

Fast facts:

• More than 15 million Americans are believed to have GERD.
• In some patients continued reflux of stomach acids over time can lead to Barrett's Esophagus.
• People with Barrett's Esophagus have up to 125 times the risk of developing esophageal cancer.
• Traditional testing for GERD uses pH monitoring to measure acid levels in the esophagus.
• A new wireless test under development will monitor acidic and non-acidic liquids as they pass through the esophagus.

Online Reporter:  Lori Lyle

Online Producer: Charles Gazaway