Use of Bioelectronics in the Gastrointestinal Tract

Abstract

Gastrointestinal (GI) motility disorders are major contributing factors to functional GI diseases that account for >40% of patients seen in gastroenterology clinics and affect >20% of the general population. The autonomic and enteric nervous systems and the muscles within the luminal GI tract have key roles in motility. In health, this complex integrated system works seamlessly to transport liquid, solid, and gas through the GI tract. However, major and minor motility disorders occur when these systems fail. Common functional GI motility disorders include dysphagia, gastroesophageal reflux disease, functional dyspepsia, gastroparesis, chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction, postoperative ileus, irritable bowel syndrome, functional diarrhea, functional constipation, and fecal incontinence. Although still in its infancy, bioelectronic therapy in the GI tract holds great promise through the targeted stimulation of nerves and muscles.

Deployment of an electrocorticography system with a soft robotic actuator

“…For example, deployment over the heart may allow the epicardial mapping of the electrical activity for the diagnosis of atrial fibrillation with much more coverage and precision than current catheter-based solutions ( 63 ). Moreover, the ability to deploy a large electrode array through a small opening may be leveraged in laparoscopic surgeries for mapping bowel, renal, or liver electrical activity ( 64 , 65 ). Furthermore, spinal cord stimulation electrode arrays ( 45 , 66 ) may be inserted using a single leg design while minimizing the size of spinal cord exposure, which is not possible with conventional open surgery or dual laminectomy ( 24 ).…”

Low-frequency electrical stimulation promotes the recovery of gastrointestinal motility following gynecological laparoscopy (Review)

“…LFES has exhibited marked potential in preventing post-operative ileus and gastrointestinal motility disorders ( 42 , 43 ), including esophageal motility disorders, gastroesophageal reflux disease, functional dyspepsia, chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction, post-operative intestinal obstruction and irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea or constipation ( 44-47 ). The delivery of LFES with skin electrodes placed on the sites corresponding to the gastrointestinal segment with abnormal motility patterns ( 48 ) can trigger the contractions of gastrointestinal smooth muscle cells and can thus stimulate peristalsis, gastric emptying, intestinal transit and absorption ( 49 ). Furthermore, the activation of submucosal and myenteric plexuses by LFES facilitates gastrointestinal fluid secretion, and blood and lymphatic circulation in the gastrointestinal tract post- ( 50 ).…”

Auricular neural stimulation as a new non-invasive treatment for opioid detoxification

“…Targeted neuromodulation through implanted and non-invasive devices is a core aspect of bioelectronic medicine (Pavlov et al 2019;Addorisio et al 2019). In addition to chronic inflammatory diseases, bioelectronic medicine has the potential to provide new treatments for many disorders and neuropsychiatric conditions, including chronic migraine, epilepsy, major depressive disorder, Alzheimer's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, pre-diabetes, paralysis, gastrointestinal diseases, and even cancer (Pavlov and Tracey 2017;Miller et al 2019;Kaniusas et al 2019;Eberhardson et al 2019). Among all the available bioelectronic neuromodulatory approaches, auricular vagus nerve stimulation (aVNS) has been increasingly utilized because of its low cost, ease of application, and because it is non-invasive (Pavlov et al 2019;Addorisio et al 2019).…”