Intra-abdominal dilation of artificial bowel sphincter pressure-regulating balloon: a case report

Design and Evaluation of an Intelligent Artificial Anal Sphincter System Powered by an Adaptive Transcutaneous Energy Transfer System

Objectives

The aim of this study was to optimize an intelligent artificial anal sphincter system (AASS) II for patients with severe fecal incontinence.

Methods

Redesigning and integrating a pressure sensor into the sphincter prosthesis allows us to reduce the sensor volume and makes it suitable for a chronic, ambulatory application. Furthermore, a close-loop frequency control method was designed for the transcutaneous energy transfer system. Finally, a longer working time of the implanted device was obtained by the low-power design of the hardware and software. The new model was implanted in 2 dogs and studied for periods of up to 5 weeks.

Results

The output voltage induced on the load of 30 Ω, for a variation range in k of 0.12 ~ 0.42, was maintained at approximately 6.8 V with a frequency control range of the 270 ~ 320 kHz. The minimum and maximum output voltages of the pressure sensor were found to be 1.7 V and 2.34 V, respectively, which corresponded to a pressure range of 90 ~ 120 kPa with maximum change rate of approximately 3.7% caused by the temperature variations. Moreover, compared with AASS I, the low-power design resulting in 94% reduction in power consumption.

Conclusions

The efficacy of the device in achieving continence and sensing the need to defecate was assessed in an animal model. The technical concept and the design of the AASS II turned out to be capable of fulfilling the medical requirements.

Power flow control of TET system for a novel artificial anal sphincter system

This paper presents an adaptive transcutaneous energy transfer system (TETS) integrated with a novel elastic scaling artificial anal sphincter system (ES-AASS) for treating severe faecal incontinence (FI). The ES-AASS is based on a novel executive mechanism that uses a spring scalable structure to clamp the rectum. To deliver the correct amount of power (i.e. to match the load demand under variable coupling conditions or different operation stages of the implanted device) for internal battery charging and ensure safety for the human body, theoretical analysis was conducted as a control rule with respect to the relationship between the phase of driver signals and output voltage. An easy regulating procedure to stabilize output voltage with a phase shift controller is also presented. To validate the phase control rules, a prototype of the TETS was constructed and its performance was validated across the whole coupling coefficient range (0.09 ∼ 0.29) as well as load resistance (50 ∼ 120 Ω). The results show that the output voltage of the secondary side can be maintained at a constant 7 V with a phase regulation range of 78.7-178.2° and the proposed controller has reached a maximal end-to-end power efficiency of 74.2% at 1 W.