254
A Tale of In-Body Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Foods and Gut Feelings
Assessment of the behavior and transit of food materials in the human gastrointestinal (GI) tract adds value when manipulating food design and improves the understanding of satiety mechanisms. Previous methods to assess the macroscopic, physiological impact of foods in the GI tract were invasive, used ionising radiation and had a number of other limitations. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a non-invasive, high resolution, dynamic imaging technique that is developing rapidly in this field. MRI can provide in-body imaging of food materials and assess gastric emptying, intestinal fluid volumes and the colonic response in combination with other physiological and behavioral techniques. This paper presents an overview of the technique with specific examples from human healthy volunteers’ studies using fat emulsions, hydrocolloids, milk-based products, poorly digested carbohydrates and dietary fibre supplements.
Keywords: MRI, in vivo, human