Gastrointestinal stimulator implants have recently shown positive results in treating obesity. However, the implantation currently requires an invasive surgical procedure. Endoscopy could be used to place the gastric stimulator in the stomach, hence avoiding the riskier surgery. The implant then needs to go through the oesophagus and be located inside the stomach, which imposes new design constraints, such as miniaturization and protecting the electronic circuit against the highly acidic environment of the stomach. We propose to protect the implant by encapsulation with silicone rubber. This paper lists the advantages of this method compared to the more usual approach of a hermetic enclosure and then presents a method to evaluate the underwater adhesive stability of six adhesive/substrate couples, using repeated lap-shear tests and an elevated temperature to accelerate the ageing process. The results for different adhesive/substrate couples tested, presented on probability plots, show that FR4 and alumina substrates with MED4-4220 silicone rubber are suitable for a first implantable prototype. We then compare these with the predicted lifetimes of bonds between historical standard silicone rubber DC3140 and different substrates and describe the encapsulation of our gastrostimulator.

Gastrointestinal stimulator implants have recently shown promising results in helping obese patients lose weight. However, to place the implant, the patient currently needs to undergo an invasive surgical procedure. We report a less invasive procedure to stimulate the stomach with a gastrostimulator. After attempting fully endoscopic implantation, we more recently focused on a single incision percutaneous procedure. In both cases, the challenges in electronic design of the implant are largely similar. This article covers the work achieved to meet these and details the in vivo validation of a gastrostimulator aimed to be endoscopically placed and anchored to the stomach.

Gastrointestinal stimulator implants have recently shown positive results in helping obese patients lose weight. However, to place the implant, the patient currently needs to undergo an invasive surgical procedure. Our team is aiming for a less invasive procedure to stimulate the stomach with a gastrostimulator. Attempts covered fully endoscopic implantation and, more recently, we have focussed on a single incision laparoscopic procedure. Whatever the chosen implantation solution, the electronic design of the implant system shares many challenges. This paper covers the work achieved to meet these.

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