A Gastrointestinal Electrical Stimulation System Based on Transcutaneous Power Transmission Technology

Electrical stimulation has been suggested as a possible treatment for various functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGID). This paper presents a transcutaneous power supplied implantable electrical stimulation system. This technology solves the problem of supplying extended power to an implanted electrical stimulator. After implantation, the stimulation parameters can be reprogrammed by the external controller and then transmitted to the implanted stimulator. This would enable parametric studies to investigate the efficacy of various stimulation parameters in promoting gastrointestinal contractions. A pressure detector in the internal stimulator can provide real-time feedback about variations in the gastrointestinal tract. An optimal stimulation protocol leading to cecal contractions has been proposed: stimulation bursts of 3 ms pulse width, 10 V amplitude, 40 Hz frequency, and 20 s duration. The animal experiment demonstrated the functionality of the system and validated the effects of different stimulation parameters on cecal contractions.