Implantable Radio Frequency Powered Gastric Electrical Stimulator

Gastric electrical stimulation (GES) is an effective alternative to long-term dietary and medicinal treatment for gastroparesis and other stomach motility disorders. This paper presents the design and development of a new miniature implantable battery-less gastrostimulator, operated by wireless radio-frequency powers. The device harvests electromagnetic-wave energy and delivers controlled electrical pulses to the stomach tissues to initiate neural activities in vagus nerves and regain normal motility and contraction. With the goal to optimize the wireless power transfer efficiency, various antenna configurations have been investigated. To enable remotely reconfiguring the device to meet the patients' needs after implantation, a novel method of changing the settings, without an additionally dedicated wireless communication channel and protocols that could increase the implant size and power consumption, has been proposed and demonstrated in this work.

Automated summary

This study introduces a new battery-less gastric stimulator powered by wireless radio-frequency, which delivers controlled electrical pulses to stomach tissues to restore normal motility and contraction.