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Effects of Electrode Diameter and Contact Material on Signal Morphology of Gastric Bioelectrical Slow Wave Recordings

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Abstract

Gastric motility is governed in part by bioelectrical ‘slow waves’, and high-resolution electrical mapping has emerged as a clinical research tool with diagnostic potential. In this study, we aimed to determine the effects of electrode diameter and contact material on in vivo extracellular slow wave recordings to inform gastric mapping device design. Custom flexible-printed-circuit electrode arrays were designed with four electrode diameters (0.3, 1.8, 3.3, 4.8 mm; 4 × 8 array) and fabricated in four contact materials (gold, silver, copper, silver-chloride). The electrode arrays were placed on the gastric serosa in vivo in pigs and unipolar slow wave signals were simultaneously recorded from each electrode. Propagation, signal morphology, and noise were quantified to determine which electrodes produced signals with the highest signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and gradient, which is a preferred metric for detection and analytical algorithms. Electrodes of diameters 0.3 and 1.8 mm recorded significantly higher signal gradients than 3.3 and 4.8 mm (p < 0.05). Silver-chloride electrodes recorded a significantly higher gradient than all other materials (p < 0.05), with no significant differences between gold, silver, and copper electrodes. Electrodes of diameters 1.8 and 3.3 mm recorded significantly higher SNR than 0.3 mm (p < 0.05). Electrodes with a diameter of 1.8 mm provided an optimal combination to maximize the signal gradient and SNR, and silver-chloride electrodes yielded the highest signal gradient. These results can now inform gastric mapping device design, particularly minimally-invasive devices where electrode size is critical.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr Peng Du and Mrs Linley Nisbet for their expert assistance with this study.

Funding

This project and/or authors were supported by research grants from the Kelliher Charitable Trust, the Auckland Medical Research Foundation, the New Zealand Health Research Council (HRC), the MedTech Centre of Research Excellence New Zealand, and the Riddet Institute Centre of Research Excellence New Zealand. TRA was supported by the Edith C. Coan Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Auckland Medical Research Foundation and Rutherford Discovery Fellowship from the Royal Society of New Zealand.

Disclosure

LKC, NP, and TRA hold intellectual property in the field of gastrointestinal electrophysiology and are shareholders in FlexiMap Ltd. AAK and SA declare no conflicts of interest. No commercial financial support was provided for this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Auckland Bioengineering Institute, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand

    Abhishek A. Kamat, Niranchan Paskaranandavadivel, Saeed Alighaleh, Leo K. Cheng & Timothy R. Angeli

  2. Department of Surgery, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Niranchan Paskaranandavadivel

  3. Department of Surgery, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA

    Leo K. Cheng

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  1. Abhishek A. Kamat
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  2. Niranchan Paskaranandavadivel
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  3. Saeed Alighaleh
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  5. Timothy R. Angeli
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Correspondence to Timothy R. Angeli.

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Associate Editor Xiaoxiang Zheng oversaw the review of this article.

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Kamat, A.A., Paskaranandavadivel, N., Alighaleh, S. et al. Effects of Electrode Diameter and Contact Material on Signal Morphology of Gastric Bioelectrical Slow Wave Recordings. Ann Biomed Eng 48, 1407–1418 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-020-02457-5

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