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Gastro Health & Nutrition
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GI Doctor Cypress TX For GI Motility & Smart Pill

Your gastrointestinal (GI) motility refers to the number and strength of movements within your digestive system. Assessing digestive motility can provide doctors with valuable insights into the functioning of your GI tract. The SmartPill Capsule Motility Procedure offers a wealth of information in a less invasive manner than most traditional GI test procedures. In many cases, it can be performed in under 30 minutes by our gastroenterologists and does not require any downtime afterward.

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What is SmartPill?

The SmartPill is an FDA-approved capsule that you swallow just like any ordinary oral medication. However, instead of producing a chemical effect, the SmartPill collects data as it passes through your digestive system. In particular, it measures GI motility to help doctors better understand how you are digesting your food. It is especially useful for diagnosing gastroparesis, which involves partial paralysis of the stomach. Other parameters the SmartPill can measure include:

• Stomach acid levels
• GI tract temperature
• Pressure levels
• pH balance

Man in blue shirt touching his throat.
Capsule Endoscopy Gastro Health

What Are The Benefits?

The Smart Pill can test the motility of the stomach, small intestine, and colon. It is the only test capable of measuring the motility of all three. Without the SmartPill, you may need to undergo multiple rounds of testing to determine the source of your problem. The SmartPill also provides a wealth of information that is not available with any other method of testing and is non-invasive.

How Does SmartPill Work?

The SmartPill moves through your system in about three to five days. During that time, it sends information to a recorder that the patient wears on their hip. Once the data is collected, doctors will then download and analyze it to make a diagnosis. Motility issues will be determined by the length of time the pill remains in your system. For example, if the pill stays in your stomach for more than four hours, this might indicate a problem with GI motility.

Insurance Providers We Accept

We accept a wide range of insurance plans. For insurance coverage that isn’t listed, please contact your closest office location.
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Gastro Health & Nutrition medical team

About Our Comprehensive Digestive Health Care

Our expert team helps people identify, treat, and manage their digestive irregularities. Allowing them to have incredible experiences in their lives that otherwise might not have been possible. We provide a comfortable environment in which we educate our patients to fully understand what is affecting their body and how it is best treated. Nuestro equipo es bilingüe.

  • Nutrition & Wellness
  • Digestive Health

  • IBS, Dyspepsia

  • Liver Disease

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the GI Motility SmartPill?
The SmartPill is an ingestible, vitamin-sized electronic capsule that contains advanced sensors. As it travels naturally through your digestive tract, it continuously measures pressure, pH levels, temperature, and transit time to evaluate how efficiently your gut is functioning.
The precise data collected by the SmartPill helps our gastroenterologists diagnose various motility (movement) disorders, including gastroparesis (delayed stomach emptying), chronic severe constipation, and unexplained nausea, vomiting, or bloating.
During your office visit, you will eat a standardized meal (typically a specialized nutrition bar) and swallow the SmartPill capsule with a glass of water. You will then wear a small, portable data receiver on your belt or on a lanyard that wirelessly records the capsule’s measurements as you go about your normal daily activities.
The entire testing process generally takes between 3 to 5 days. The capsule passes naturally through your entire digestive system and is safely flushed away in your stool. You do not need to retrieve the pill; you simply return the wireless receiver to our office so we can download and analyze your results.
Yes, the SmartPill is an FDA-approved, highly safe, and completely painless diagnostic tool. It is slightly larger than a standard multivitamin, making it easy to swallow for most patients, and it provides a minimally invasive alternative to traditional, more uncomfortable motility tests.