This study compares the differences in the gastrointestinal transit time between the conventional capsule endoscope and a minimized capsule endoscope model in normal dogs to verify whether the minimization of capsule endoscope can help relief retention in the gastrointestinal tract, especially in the pyloric passage. Three male beagles were used as the experimental group for which the minimized capsule endoscope model was orally administered and the control group consisted of three beagle dogs for which the conventional capsule endoscope was orally administered. Nine experiments were conducted with three experiments for each dog in each group. The results showed a significant difference in the gastric transit time (GTT) by the minimization of the capsule endoscope between the two groups (control group: 123.3 ± 80 min, experimental group: 63.3 ± 40.9 min, p=0.019). In contrast, the difference in the small bowel transit time (SBTT) by the minimization of the capsule endoscope between the two groups (control group: 86.6 ± 58.9 min, experimental group: 80 ± 33.5 min, p=0.863) was not significant. In this study, the capsule endoscopes reached the large intestine without retention in the small intestine in all subjects. The significant difference in the GTT between the control group using the conventional capsule endoscope and the experimental group using the minimized capsule endoscope model suggests that the smaller size of the capsule endoscope is helpful in resolving retention in the gastrointestinal tract, thus shorting the GTT.

Objective : The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Expiratory Muscle Strength Training (EMST) on the suprahyoid muscle activation and swallowing function of stroke patients.Methods : This study randomly assigned 21 stroke patients to an experimental group and a control group. Four-week EMST was performed at resistance of 70% of the maximum expiratory pressure with the experimental group and at resistance of 20% of that with the control group. Evaluation was conducted using surface Electromyographic (sEMG), Videofluoroscopic Dysphagia Scale (VDS), and Penetration-Aspiration Scale (PAS) based on Videofluoroscopic Swallowing Study (VFSS).Results : There was a statistically significant difference in the activation of the suprahyoid muscles using sEMG of the experimental group (p<.05) while there was no significant difference in that of the control group. Both group showed significant difference in the pharyngeal phase of VDS and PAS. Also in the comparison of variation in VDS and PAS before and after the intervention, there were statistically.Conclusion : Finding from this study confirmed that EMST applied 70% maximum expiratory resistance would be a remedial method which could help activate pharyngeal dysphagia patients’ suprahyoid muscles and improve swallowing function.