A Device

This invention relates to a device for causing dilation, and measuring pressure within a tubular anatomy, and particularly, but not exclusively, to a device for 5 measuring pressure within the oesophagus of a human or animal. The oesophagus is a tube that connects the mouth with the stomach. The walls of the oesophagus are very muscular, and contract rhythmically. This rhythmical movement is known as peristalsis and serves to transfer food from the mouth to 10 the stomach for digestion within the stomach. The oesophagus is connected to the stomach by a valve known as the lower oesophageal sphincter. The sphincter prevents the backward flow of food from the stomach into the oesophagus. 15 It can sometimes be necessary to measure how well the muscles of the oesophagus are working and to measure the strength of the lower oesophageal sphincter. Such measurements may assist diagnosis of a medical condition present in a patient. 20 These measurements are known as oesophageal manometry or as an oesophageal function or oesophageal motility study. It is known to carry out such measurements by passing a soft tube through the nose or mouth of a patient. The tube has pressure sensors along its length and 25 when in place can measure the pressure that is produced by the oesophageal muscles when relaxing or compressing during the peristaltic process, or the pressure within a stricture. It is known that strictures may develop in the oesophagus. The presence of one or 30 more strictures in an oesophagus may lead to problems and clinical conditions such as dyspepsia, dysphasia and asthma. It is therefore desirable to be able to dilate the oesophagus in the region of the stricture in order to reduce or overcome these problems.