Proposal of a New Electrode and Modality of Electrical Stimulation for Diaphragmatic Pacemakers

This report describes the implantation of a new design of intramuscular electrode to the diaphragm and introduces a new modality of electroventilation for diaphragmatic pacemaker. We used 22 Large White female pigs to test 68 electrodes that were implanted in the abdominal portion of the diaphragm by videolaparoscopy. Animals were submitted to a new protocol of electroventilation with an unpolarized current and a single-channel mode with 1 electrode for each hemidiaphragm during 3 hours. The electrodes were easily fixed to the diaphragm with the help of a deployment device designed for this purpose. There was no evidence of clinical complications such as pneumothorax or bleeding. No significant differences were observed in arterial blood gas analysis and serum lactate levels. The designed electrodes provided an excellent performance in connection between the electrical stimulator and the muscle tissue. The proposal for using an unpolarized current proved to be effective in stimulating both hemidiaphragms simultaneously with only a single channel of the electrical stimulator.