The GI Market Potential of AbStats®

Narcotics are commonly used in patients with chronic pain. A major complication of narcotics is bowel paralysis, which can lead to prolonged inpatient stays and drive costs. For outpatients, bowel paralysis can impact compliance with otherwise effective therapies and diminish quality of life. AbStats can allow proactive management of patients on narcotics, especially those just beginning narcotics and those struggling to find the correct dose.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, are common conditions in GI practice. Patients with Crohn’s Disease often suffer from bowel obstructions. Managing these patients can be challenging and poorly suited for the usual approach of intermittent appointments and clinic visits. The disease can be dynamic, and bowel obstructions may occur between clinic visits, leading patients to the emergency department for urgent management. With the AbStats AGIS sensor, providers can monitor their IBD patients in real-time, and identify early signs of bowel obstruction remotely, accurately, and quickly.

Chronic or recurrent abdominal pain is highly common both in GI and general medicine clinics. Although various imaging tests are commonly used to evaluate the source of pain, there are very few functional tests of abdominal physiology. Most tests are highly specialized, invasive, expensive, and limited to expert centers. Moreover, these tests only measure health over a short period of time, typically much less than a day. In contrast, AbStats AGIS sensors can provide continuous data over prolonged periods.

Patients with diarrhea and incontinence may suffer from many different conditions with different physiologic mechanisms. Patients with fecal incontinence, in particular, can be difficult to diagnose and treat. AbStats can provide another tool to help understand reasons for diarrhea and incontinence. The AbStats AGIS sensor can track intestinal movements in relation to meals, stress, and other physiologic events. The data might reveal patterns that are explanatory and clinically actionable.

Constipation is also extremely common. There are invasive tests to help separate the different forms of constipation, but they are expensive, only available in specialized centers, and provide only short-term data. AbStats can provide another tool to better understand the underlying mechanisms of constipation. For example, patients with constipation despite normal colon movements likely have either “normal transit” or pelvic outlet obstruction causing their constipation. In contrast, delayed colonic movements would suggest “slow transit” constipation. The treatments are very different, and AbStats can help guide therapy.

IBS affects 10% of the world’s population and is among the most common conditions experienced by people. Marked by abdominal pain and defecatory symptoms, IBS is not only common, but also significant impacts quality of life. It is difficult to monitor the condition correctly, yet diagnostic and therapeutic decision making depends on valid and reliable patient reporting of their illness. AbStats may revolutionize how we monitor and categorize patients with IBS. For example, patients with predominantly “stress” mechanisms of IBS might develop anxiety initially, and GI abnormalities secondarily. In contrast, patients with “non-stress” causes might first develop GI abnormalities, and only then show signs of anxiety. AbStats AGIS sensors can help tell the difference in ways that are not currently possible.

Regardless of the underlying condition, GI patients often need to keep an accurate bowel diary to help monitor disease, treatments, and collect diagnostic information for their providers. But bowel diaries are frequently inaccurate and patients often forget to complete the diary or even fail to begin. AbStats AGIS sensors can provide an objective way to monitor bowel movement frequency and duration. If coupled with other information reported through a patient-provider e-portal, including dietary intake and composition, medicine intake and timing, and other external factors, AbStats can provide insight about the timing and potential causes of constipation and diarrhea.