The testing we perform, what each one measures, and why it matters.
For patients and referring physicians who want to understand the science before the visit.
For patients and referring physicians who want to understand the science before the visit.
Every assessment we perform is drawn from the same diagnostic toolkit used in academic gastroenterology.
Functional and mechanical gut symptoms are among the most common, and most under-tested, presentations in medicine. Not because the science doesn't exist to explain them, but because the specific testing required is rarely accessible in a standard practice setting. GI Diagnostics exists to close that gap, as a dedicated testing resource for patients and the physicians who treat them.
Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth is among the most common and most underdiagnosed explanations for chronic digestive symptoms. Breath testing is the non-invasive standard for detecting it, and the pattern of results matters as much as the numbers themselves.
The small intestine is designed to be relatively sterile. When bacteria migrate upstream from the colon, the result is fermentation of carbohydrates before they can be properly absorbed. The gas produced is detectable in exhaled breath.
Methane production is classified as Intestinal Methanogen Overgrowth (IMO) under Rome IV guidance. The distinction from hydrogen-dominant SIBO matters clinically, they respond to different interventions and are managed differently.
Patients with bloating, gas, abdominal discomfort, irregular bowel habits, or symptoms that worsen after eating, particularly carbohydrate-rich meals. Also indicated where a prior IBS diagnosis hasn't been explained by structural workup, or with a history of prior gut surgery, motility disorders, or prolonged antibiotic or PPI use.
Breath-based carbohydrate malabsorption testing replaces elimination diets and guesswork with objective, quantitative data on enzyme and transport function.
This panel measures a specific thing: the small intestine's capacity to digest and absorb particular carbohydrates. It is not an immune or IgG panel. It measures the enzymatic and transport function that determines whether a substrate is absorbed or fermented.
Anyone who suspects particular foods are triggering symptoms but can't confirm a clear pattern. Especially relevant where symptoms follow eating but vary unpredictably, or where a prior elimination diet has produced incomplete relief.
The wireless motility capsule is the only way to objectively measure how quickly, and in which specific segments, content moves through the gastrointestinal tract. It distinguishes presentations that look identical clinically but require different treatment.
The capsule captures continuous data as it travels through each region of the gut. The physiological changes it detects along the way allow precise identification of regional transit times, data that no breath test, imaging study, or symptom diary can generate.
Patients with chronic constipation, nausea, early satiety, unexplained bloating, or bowel habits that haven't responded to dietary changes. Also indicated where SIBO findings suggest an underlying motility component explaining recurrence.
Manometry maps the muscular mechanics of the gastrointestinal tract in real time, capturing coordinated pressure events that imaging, endoscopy, and breath testing cannot see.
High-resolution manometry uses a catheter lined with closely spaced pressure sensors to generate a continuous, spatially resolved picture of pressure activity. The result shows not just whether muscles are contracting, but where, in what sequence, with what force, and whether sphincters respond appropriately.
Anorectal manometry evaluates pressure relationships and coordination between the internal and external anal sphincters, the puborectalis muscle, and the rectum. It identifies dyssynergic defecation, a paradoxical pelvic floor contraction during straining that is among the most common and most commonly missed causes of chronic constipation. Imaging does not capture it. Manometry does.
Esophageal: patients with persistent dysphagia, unexplained chest pain, or reflux unresponsive to standard therapy. Anorectal: patients with chronic constipation, particularly straining and incomplete evacuation, or anorectal pain unexplained by colonoscopy or imaging.
These tests are most informative when read together.
A SIBO breath test and a motility study are related conversations. Slow small bowel transit creates conditions where bacterial overgrowth is more likely to establish and persist. Treating the SIBO without understanding the transit picture can produce temporary improvement followed by recurrence.
This is why every engagement begins with a thorough intake. Your symptom history and the pattern of your presentation determine which combination of testing produces the most complete and actionable picture, for you and for the physician who will treat you.