Minimally Invasive Gastric Electrical Stimulation Using a Newly Developed Wireless Gastrostimulator: A Pilot Animal Study

Abstract

Background/Aims Gastric electrical stimulation (GES) is a feasible modality for the treatment of gastroparesis; however, the presently available device requires invasive surgical implantation for long-term stimulation and repeated surgical procedure after a period of time. This study is aimed at developing a wireless miniature GES device and testing its endoscopic insertion in animal models.

Methods Endoscopic gastric implantation of the GES device was performed on 5 healthy weaner pigs under general anesthesia. We created an endoscopic submucosal pocket and inserted the gastro-electrical stimulator. In vivo gastric slow waves were recorded and measured during electrical stimulation. A multi-channel recorder, called an electrogastrogram, was used to record the gastric myoelectrical activity in the study.

Results The gastric slow waves on the electrogastrogram were more consistent with GES on the gastric tissues compared to no stimulation. The frequency-to-amplitude ratio was also significantly altered after the electrical stimulation.

Conclusions GES is feasible with our minimally invasive wireless device. This technique has the potential to increase utilization of GES as a treatment alternative.