NEW INTEGRATED MINIATURIZED NEUROMUSCULAR STIMULATOR TO ENHANCE BLADDER VOIDING

Electrical stimulation of the sacral roots can be used for bladder emptying but it induces simultaneous contraction of the external urethral sphincter and the bladder muscles. A new selective stimulation technique shows promising results to inhibit sphincter contraction by high-frequency blockage during stimulation and has many advantages over other methods. This paper describes new neuromuscular stimulator dedicated to generate the needed stimuli and perform precise excitation of the sacral roots. The proposed device receives the command words and the energy transcutaneously and allows the generation of a wide range of parameters as well as high frequency capabilities. The stimulator is integrated in one chip using the 0.35 µm technology. This miniaturized device replaces a previous version realized with commercially available components and programmable devices.