# Simultaneous gastric and brain electrical interfacing for development of endoscopic gastric stimulation treatments for gastroparesis

> **NIH NIH F32** · MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY · 2020 · $32,277

## Abstract

Project Summary
The purpose of this work is to develop a new class of gastric electrical stimulation (GES) therapies for the
treatment of gastroparesis. Gastroparesis is a disorder arising from delayed gastric emptying leading to nausea,
frequent vomiting, bloating, early satiety, and infection. Gastroparesis is common among diabetics and is a
frequent side-effect of certain medications such as opiates. GES is believed to act by modulation of the stomach-
brain axis. GES has been tested and approved as a treatment of gastroparesis, although there have been
inconsistent reports of clinical efficacy. The mechanism of action of GES is not well understood and, as a result,
parameters of GES are not standardized. This proposal will develop a new class of intragastric stimulators that
can be delivered endoscopically, as opposed to current GES devices that are placed invasively. Furthermore,
these devices will be used in conjunction with implanted brain electrodes in porcine models to directly examine
the effect of gastric stimulation on various brain regions implicated in gastric motility and feeding. No previous
study has conducted direct neural recording simultaneously with GES. This is a crucial step in characterizing the
stomach-brain axis and vital to design more effective and less invasive GES therapies for patients with
gastroparesis and other gastric disorders.
The specific goals are summarized as follows: 1) Design and fabrication of endoscopically-delivered intragastric
electrodes and 2) Characterization of GES effects on brain and gastric motility in large animal models. This
proposal joins together fundamental engineering and tool development with a targeted clinical need, utilizing a
wide-variety of disciplines in mechanical engineering, microfabrication, chemistry, biology, neuroscience, and
gastroenterology.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9908498
- **Project number:** 1F32DK122762-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
- **Principal Investigator:** Khalil Ramadi
- **Activity code:** F32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $32,277
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-03-01 → 2020-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9908498

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9908498, Simultaneous gastric and brain electrical interfacing for development of endoscopic gastric stimulation treatments for gastroparesis (1F32DK122762-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9908498. Licensed CC0.

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