| Neural gastrointestinal electrical stimulation (NGES) is a methodology of gastrointestinal electrical stimulation (GES) that can be applied as a possible treatment for disorders such as obesity and gastroparesis. NGES is capable of generating strong lumen-occluding local contractions that can produce retrograde or antegrade movement of gastrointestinal content. A feedback-controlled implantable NGES system has been designed, implemented, and tested both in laboratory conditions and in an acute animal setting. The feedback system, based on gastrointestinal tissue impedance magnitude change, is aimed at reducing battery energy requirements and managing the phenomenon of gastric tissue accommodation. Acute animal testing was undertaken in four mongrel dogs that underwent subserosal electrode implantation. Results showed that increasing or decreasing impedance changes were detected by the implantable stimulator and that therapy can be triggered as a result. The implantable feedback system brings NGES one step closer to long term treatment of several gastrointestinal motility disorders in humans. |
