Gastrodiaphany

(gas-tro-di-af'-an-e). A method of exploration of the stomach by means of the gastrodiaphane. This consists of a soft stomach-tube, at the gastric extremity of which is placed an Edison's hard gla lamp, from which conducting wires, containing a current-interrupter, run to a portable storage-battery. The stomach should be free from food and moderately distended with water. The gastric extremity of the gastrodiaphane, after being lubricated with oil or glycerin, is introduced into that viscus, and the circuit is closed. If no pronounced thickening of the anterior stomach wall exists, trans-illumination in a dark room, with the patient erect, permits the outlines of the stomach to be seen as a zone of reddish hue on the abdominal wall.