Figure 5: Aspect of the explanted stomach after 1 week of copolymer implantation
The polymer implantation site is marked by arrows. A flexible tube for air insufflation was inserted in the duodenum. The pressure was measured by a probe in the resected esophagus. The pressure probe is marked by an arrow. A special anatomical feature of the rat stomach becomes overt: the stringent separation between the glandular part of the stomach where the copolymer was implanted (marked by arrows) and the non-glandular part. The influence of this special anatomical feature on the biofunctionality of the polymeric material is unknown so far and needs to be investigated in another animal model.
Abbreviations: Duod. = Duodenum; Esoph. = Esophagus