Entrainment of intestinal slow waves with electrical stimulation using intraluminal electrodes

The aim of this study was to investigate whether the intestinal stimulation would be feasible using a less invasive method: intraluminal electrodes. The study was performed in nine healthy hound dogs (15-26 kg). Four pairs of electrodes were implanted on the serosa of the jejunum at an interval of 5 cm with the most proximal pair 35 cm beyond the pylorus. An intestinal fistula was made 20 cm beyond the pylorus. Simultaneous recordings of intestinal myoelectrical activity were made for 2 h in the fasting state from both intraluminal and serosal electrodes. Various pacing parameters were tested. The frequency of the intestinal slow wave recorded from the intraluminal electrodes was identical to that from the serosal electrodes (18.78+/-0.3 cpm vs 18.75+/-0.3 cpm, r=0.99, p<0.001), and so was the percentage of normal 17-22 cycles/min waves (95.83+/-3.9% vs 98.16+/-1.33%, r=0.96, p<0.01). A complete entrainment of the intestinal slow wave was achieved in every dog with electrical stimulation using intraluminal ring electrodes. The effective pacing parameters were pulse width of 70 ms, amplitude of 4 mA and frequency of 1.1 LF (intrinsic frequency). The time required for the entrainment of the intestinal slow wave with intraluminal pacing was 25.0+/-2.1 s. The maximum driven frequency was found to be 1.43+/-0.01 IF. The results reveal that intraluminal pacing is an effective and efficient method for the entrainment of intestinal slow waves. It may become a potential approach for the treatment of intestinal motor disorders associated with myoelectrical abnormalities. (C) 2000 Biomedical Engineering Society. [S0090-6964(00)00305-2].