Today's medical professionals make use of catheters to gain access to interior regions of the body, in order to obtain and document objective measurements of an intended physical parameter. In one example, during anorectal manometry, pressures in the anus and rectum are quantified, giving an indication of any weakness or defect that could be present in the surrounding tissues. Anorectal manometry is a widely performed test for the assessment of anal sphincter function and anorectal co-ordination. Traditionally, manometry has been performed using either solid-state or water-perfused catheters incorporating a limited number of recording channels (typically less than or equal to six recording channels). However, with the development of high-resolution manometry, an increased number of closely spaced micro-transducers can be used to greatly enhance the spatial resolution of such measurements and the ability to measure pressure changes in a circumferential direction. Moreover, such technology has resulted in a paradigm shift in manometric testing of the upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract, with high-resolution manometry now having replaced traditional manometry as the gold-standard investigation of esophageal function. Generally speaking, the more measurement points that can be quantified give the professional more information and a better depiction about the clinical condition of the patient.
Existing devices use of a high number of pressure connection ports and may require the user to connect each port individually, which can be time-consuming and cumbersome.