In recent years, obesity has literally reached epidemic proportions throughout the world. Gastric electrical stimulation is a recent technique that uses an implanted device to stimulate the stomach and produce a feeling of satiety for overweight and obese patients. However, to place the implant, the patient currently needs to undergo an invasive surgical procedure. Endoscopic implantation could be used to place the gastric stimulator in the stomach. This would help moderately and morbidly obese patients that are ineligible for surgery, but such a solution brings new challenges for the development of the gastrostimulator. This thesis is a first step toward a commercial implant, endoscopically implantable and treating obesity. This work mainly focuses on the design and implementation of a first endoscopically implantable prototype, to be validated on animals. This will allow us to prove the feasibility of the project, through a pre-clinical phase on animals. Compared to previous devices, the prototype developed is specifically designed to stimulate the stomach using embedded electrodes. Its design allows endoscopic implantation. Its packaging resists long-term implantation in an acidic environment, hence overcoming the shortcomings of previous gastrostimulators. A flexible and low-cost manufacturing chain is implemented. The prototype is built with discrete components, commercially available, and encapsulated with silicone rubber. This thesis also provides a method to select a silicone rubber for the encapsulation of an electronics circuit. The validation of the prototype is performed on a bench-test, in ex-vivo and in-vivo on three dogs. A new method using surface cutaneous electrodes is introduced to validate the functioning of the stimulator. / Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur et technologie / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

In recent years, development of various imaging, recording and stimulation tools are rapidly advancing our knowledge of the human anatomy and its underlying interconnections. As a truly non-invasive tool, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), is creating new opportunities to understand large scale biological processes with a fine detail. Furthermore, novel materials and microfabrication techniques are allowing researchers to develop tools that record bio-signal or modulate complex physiology with high temporal precision. However, these tools, when used individually can elucidate only a partial view of the human body and the brain. There is a growing need in both the research and clinical community to find ways to perform these modalities together and visualize biological systems across a vast range of spatiotemporal scale. However, severe methodological challenges act as bottlenecks for any such multimodal integration.<br><div><br></div><div>To address this critical need, I have designed an MRI-safe platform for high-fidelity bio-signal recording and electrical stimulation during concurrent MRI imaging. Central to this system are novel miniaturized microelectronic devices, that operate wirelessly in synchrony with MRI scans. The system leverages surplus functionalities of a conventional scanner to integrate with the imaging system and provide a simple and inexpensive solution towards multimodal imaging. This work also describes a systematic approach for development and evaluation of this plug-and-play system through in-vivo experiments in animal models. The clinical relevance of the multimodal imaging platform was further showcased through a study on the mechanism of SUDEP (Sudden death in epilepsy), a terminal complication associated with epilepsy. With future refinements, I expect this platform will provide affordable, accessible, and reliable solutions for multimodal imaging in animals and humans, creating unique opportunities for basic scientific research and clinical diagnosis.<br></div>