EN
Examinations of the mechanical aspects of the gastrointestinal function discussed here represent the biophysical fragment of its motor activity. Their purpose is to obtain further characteristics of gastrointestinal smooth muscle layer properties and contractions and an analysis of the relationships between contraction and effect of contraction. Much effort in these studies will still be required because of the complexity of motor events and the multiplicity of the factors affecting these events. Several theoretical and practical, in vivo and in vitro methods were utilized in these investigations and the results of classical methods of gastrointestinal motility examinations have been useful in the characterization of mechanical properties of the gastrointestinal smooth muscle. The application of computer models allows for simulations of motor activity in the given conditions, for evaluation of contractile effect and for prediction of the given motor effect in the considered physiological or pathological situation. These examinations are still not developed in veterinary medicine and their greater usefulness in the veterinary clinics is mostly dependent on the progress in the diagnosis of gastrointestinal motor disturbances.