Transcutaneous powering of implantable micro-stimulators for functional restoration of impaired gastrointestinal motility

Recent experiments in functional electrical stimulation of gastrointestinal organs have demonstrated effective techniques for producing controlled movement of content in dogs and humans. However, as a result of the substantive power requirements of the proposed stimulation techniques, which impede the use of traditional power supply methods such as implantable batteries, the feasibility of transcutaneously powering multiple implanted micro-stimulators through inductive coupling remains an unresolved issue. This paper proposes the use of a well-established circuit model for calculating the transcutaneous power transfer to an implanted micro-stimulator. In addition, techniques for modeling all aspects of the inductive link are proposed. The comprehensive model is then used in the design of an inductive link capable of delivering over 80 mW of power to multiple implanted micro-stimulators.