Wearable Wireless Patches for Gastrointestinal Electrodiagnostics

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current gastrointestinal motility tests are invasive, expensive, and limited in scope, failing to provide comprehensive, long-term monitoring of gastrointestinal activity, which restricts their diagnostic value and widespread adoption.

Innovation Solution

A wearable, non-invasive wireless electrodiagnostic patch system with distributed arrays of bipolar electrodes for multi-day monitoring, allowing for the collection and analysis of spatiotemporal electromyographic data from the entire gastrointestinal tract, enabling comprehensive and continuous data collection while patients engage in daily activities.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If traditional invasive gastrointestinal motility tests are used, then diagnostic accuracy may be improved, but patient comfort and convenience deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvediagnostic accuracyVSAvoidpatient comfort

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent replaces invasive mechanical/procedural methods with non-invasive electrogastrography and electroenterography techniques. Instead of using invasive sensors or procedures, the system uses surface electrodes to detect electrical activity from the gastrointestinal tract, thereby maintaining diagnostic accuracy while significantly improving patient comfort and convenience.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

2Device complexity

If traditional electrodiagnostic systems with few electrodes are used, then device complexity is reduced, but measurement coverage and diagnostic value deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesystem simplicityVSAvoidGI tract coverage

Core Design Contradiction:

Device complexityVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent divides the gastrointestinal monitoring task into multiple independent electrode pairs arranged in arrays. Each electrode pair monitors a specific region, and together they provide comprehensive coverage of the entire GI tract. This segmentation allows the system to achieve wide measurement coverage while keeping each individual electrode pair simple and the overall system manageable.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent transitions from using a small number of electrodes to arranging multiple electrodes in spatial arrays across the abdominal surface. This adds a spatial dimension to the measurement system, enabling simultaneous monitoring of multiple GI regions and providing comprehensive diagnostic information without requiring complex centralized processing.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

3Ease of operation

If short-term clinical testing is used, then patient compliance constraints are reduced, but temporal coverage and diagnostic potential deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvepatient complianceVSAvoidmonitoring duration

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSDuration of action of moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent enables long-term periodic monitoring by having patients wear the electrode arrays during their normal daily activities over extended periods. The system captures gastrointestinal electrical activity continuously or periodically throughout the day, allowing detection of cyclical patterns and intermittent events that would be missed in short-term clinical testing, while maintaining patient compliance through non-invasive wearable design.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #19Periodic action

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

This system provides diagnostically valuable physiological parameters of gastrointestinal smooth muscle activity, enhancing the understanding and diagnosis of gastrointestinal disorders, and reducing costs by allowing patients to monitor their activity in a non-invasive and convenient manner.

Implementation Method 1

each patch comprising a particularly arranged array of bipolar electrode pairs... acquiring electrical signals from one to all regions of the gastrointestinal tract

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectElectrical conduction: Conduction (electrical)

Data Source

PatentUS10499829B2Wearable wireless patches containing electrode pair arrays for gastrointestinal electrodiagnostics

Publication Date: 2019.12.10 G TECH MEDICAL INC

AI summary

A system and method for profiling electrical activity in smooth muscle of the gastrointestinal tract muscular of a patient are disclosed. The system includes electromyographic-sensing patches adapted for placement on the skin of the abdomen of the patient. Each patch has at least one bipolar electrode pair, or a multitude arranged in an array, and is enabled for communication of a signal indicative of a sensed electromyographic signal. The system further includes networked computing devices. The local patch device is configured for wireless communication between the EMG-sensing patches and a local computing device, to enable wireless transmission from the patch to the networked computing devices. The networked computing device is configured to process large aggregate collections of multi-hour or day signals received from the local computing device to yield diagnostically valuable physiological parameters of gastrointestinal smooth muscle electrical activity.